


Not From Here

by shyspeck



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universes, Caught, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Flashbacks, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Outer Space, POV Female Character, Platonic Relationships, Reader-Insert, Restraints, Space Battles, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-26 21:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 43,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13866165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyspeck/pseuds/shyspeck
Summary: *I'll try to update once or twice a week, but that might be a little too hopeful of me*It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out mission. But now... You couldn't even begin to tell how you got here.





	1. In the Beginning

This had to possibly be the worst decision of your entire life.

 

Not only did you have two cruisers after you, you ended up getting separated from your fleet and was busy swerving your piece of crap ship away from asteroids and gun fire from the enemy. And the only way you could even possibly get out of this mess was to create a worm hole. Lucky you, all resistance cruisers were installed with the necessary equipment for one jump. Which means this would be your only chance to get rid of these punks.

 

You swerved last minute, avoiding an asteroid and leaving the belt in one shot. "Crap," You mutter. Now you were out in the open and taking heavy fire. "Dude, a little help would be nice!" Plurp, your number one Co-Pilot, whirred hurriedly and began the programming. A cold bead of sweat rolled down your temple and you grit your teeth. Any second and...

 

There it was! You sped up as best you could and threw your ship into the wormhole. You lurched violently in your seat upon entry, but quickly got over it as soon the proximity alarm went off once more.

 

"Come _on_!" You yell through grit teeth. The wormhole had closed, but it only cut off one of your two chasers from your safety. The other one was closer than you thought. Violently, you rocked your ship back and forth to avoid more fire. Your pursuer clipped one of your rocket boosters and you were sent in a spiral. Plurp all but screamed as they were sent flying away from their spot.

 

You had no control.

 

"No, no, no!" You chant, trying whatever you could to not get thrown into the walls of the wormhole. You've heard stories of those who did. Whether or not they were exaggerated, you did _not_ want to experience it for yourself.

 

One more shot is all it took.

 

Your ship hit the wall full force.

 

The orange and red hues of the wormhole were swapped out with the blue of a sky. You were falling.

 

You desperately tried to slow your decent, but your ship had other ideas. As the forestry of the new planet drew closer, you prayed. It wasn't something you did often, but with how grim everything looked now, you had no other choice. Everything went in slow motion as you fell, even Plurp's screams. Your eyes screwed shut before the first contact. It must've been a tree, going by the splintering sound. You were jostled in your seat as your ship hit every. Damn. Tree. Tools, scattered parts, literally everything in your ship flew from there spots. Something nailed you in the forehead. Pain flourished from the wound; it didn't take long for the blood to get into your eye.

 

Then you weren't falling anymore.

 

The ship lodged into the surface of the planet, momentum making it bounce once, twice, three times before finally sliding to a halt. Your restraints groaned as they were stretched as far as they could go, digging into your skin uncomfortably. You couldn't move; the pain in your head was almost too much. It took all of your strength to push yourself back into your seat.

 

"Plu-Plurp," It came out shakey, scratchy. Had you been screaming too? "Are you all r-right back there?" You fought to keep your eyes open, any last bit of adrenaline you had left was used up in forming the question. You couldn't even tell if that noise was Plurp or just feedback from your body. Or was that the proximity alarm again? Everything started to blur. You focused as best you could through the cracked windshield. Two blobs of color began to form, but everything mixed together and, finally, everything went black.

 

~~

 

_The fire ... it was everywhere... your home... your neighborhood. You coughed, the smoke digging burning tunnels to your lungs. Your vision blurred; was it the smoke watering your eyes or was it the sadness? You trudged forward slowly. Everything hurt, why did everything hurt? Something snagged your foot, and you were brought to the ground with a yelp. You turned to see what had tripped you, but quickly turned away to vomit._

 

_You silently, and guiltily, hoped it wasn't somebody you knew. You pushed yourself away, half crawling, to distance yourself from the carnage as much as you could. Footsteps crunched towards you threateningly, then a figure loomed above you. You looked up, but the smoke obscured their features. Then they spoke, the two words shaking you to your very core and searing themselves in your memory forever._

 

_"Take her."_

 

"No!" You screamed, pushing yourself away from... something. You fell face first on the cool floor. Hastily, you pushed yourself onto your back and scrambled for your sidearm. Only... it wasn't holstered where it should be.

 

"Uh..." The pair in front of you stared awkwardly, possible not used to this kind of response. The male, as round as he was tall, was wearing a white and yellow armored suit and had an orange bandana tied around his forehead. The other was shorter - much shorter - and wore a similar suit, but green, adjusting his (her?) thick glasses. It was silent for what felt like forever before you complied with the logical voice in the back of your mind.

 

You scrambled to your feet and promptly ran out of the room.

 

Their shouts echoed after you as you bolted it down the corridor. You needed to get out of here fast. Where was here? _And where is my ship?_ You began to panic more, but swallowed it down. If you were panicky, you wouldn't make it out alive.

 

_Alive._

 

The word stopped you in your tracks and you looked down at your body incredulously. How were you alive? Did they... _heal_...  you? The pounding of footsteps alerted you, and you quickly ducked around the corner and behind one of the ridges protruding from the wall. You held your breath as your pursuers clambered down the hallway, only letting it out when you couldn't hear them. You peeked around the corner, then bolted in the direction you came.

 

You raced as quietly as you could, ears listening for even the slightest of sounds. You almost passed the room you were in, backtracking just a little bit before entering. Walking up to the control panel in the middle of the room, you glanced around. It must have been some type of med-bay, but there was only one healing pod in place.

 

"Seems inefficient," You mutter. But the circular markings around the panel told you there were more than just the one. Out of the corner of your eye, in the farthest spot from the panel, you spot your gear. You grinned and jogged up to the pile. You holstered your pistol back on your hip, then placed your goggles back on your head. "Feels good to be back," You sigh."Now to find my ship."

 

"Leaving... so soon?" Someone huffed. You jumped, facing the doorway. The yellow armored male was hunched over, trying to catch his breath. When you opened your mouth to say something, he lifted a finger to silence you. "Just... a minute. Whew!" He stood to his full height. Even standing, he loomed over you, but in a nonthreatening way.

 

"Scratch fighting in actual space battles; you're harder to catch up to!" He stepped towards you, but paused when you shuffled back. "Hey, wait, I'm not here to hurt you." He held up his hands.

 

It was silent once more. "Who-" You cleared your throat. "Who are you?"

 

"I'm Hunk," He smiled a bit, waving some. "Hi."

 

You nodded awkwardly in greeting. "Where am I?"

 

Before he could respond, another female entered the room. Her white hair flew around her gracefully as she just barely avoided crashing into Hunk.

 

"Did you find her?" When she turned to look at you, you froze.

 

In one motion, you threw Hunk behind you and pulled your pistol out and pointed it at her.

 

"You're _Altean_."


	2. Peace Talks

You squinted, keeping your pistol and heart rate steady. Or at least trying to. Your heart almost burst from your chest. You heard more footsteps make it to the doorway, but stop just shy of entering.

 

"What's going on here?" It was another male voice. You took a glance to see that he wasn't Altean and fixed your stare back on her. Her face was set in a stern, yet yielding expression, hands up in a surrendering manner.

 

"Why am I here?" You bit out, gritting your teeth to hold back the nausea.

 

"Your ship crashed just outside our castle," She spoke, just her speaking made you take a step back. This, in turn, caused Hunk, who was still behind you, to be trapped between the wall and your back. "When we found you in the wreckage, you were brought here immediately to be healed."

 

You squinted some more. That would make sense... "Where _is_ my ship?"

 

"Totaled," It was the little girl (definitely girl, now that she spoke). You hadn't even noticed there were more people standing in the entryway until she said something. "Now who are you?"

 

You paused. Could you tell them? Only Hunk had told you his name, but that could just be because you hadn't had a firearm out at the time. "I am (y/n) of Demmoria," You spat the name of your home world, hoping it would cause some recognition of what they did.

 

"Demmoria," Her voice was soft, thoughtful. Then, her eyes widened in shock. "You can't be. Your planet; it was wiped out by Zarkon when I was just a child." Your hand tightened on your weapon, finger dangerously close to the trigger.

 

"Lies!" You yell, moving your other hand to steady your weapon further. Tears stung the corner of your eyes, but you ignored them. "My planet was attacked twenty planetary cycles ago, by _you!"_ You gestured with your gun. Someone thought you meant to strike her and made to grab the weapon from your hand. You twisted away, turning on your heel so you were facing all of them. It was the man from earlier; the shock of white hair and scar sent recognition through your bones, but you brushed it off. The rest of the crew stood behind him, unsure of what to do. They all wore matching armor of different colors; yellow, pink, red, blue, green, and black. You raised your weapon once more.

 

"Shiro, no," The Altean gripped onto his arm and pulled him back slightly. She then turned to you. "I am sorry about your planet and your people, but I assure you that it was not our fault. Please, put down the pistol and we'll sort through this." Your stern eyes never left her blue ones as you contemplated this. Alteans? Wanting to talk? You couldn't believe it. But...

 

Looking into her eyes once more, you contemplated your options. Either fight, and possibly die or be taken prisoner again, or talk with them and maybe find a way out of this without taking any injuries. She did seem trustworthy and ready to speak with you.

 

Slowly, you lowered your arm and holstered your weapon, never breaking eye contact. Might as well postpone the inevitable. "I will listen to you. But the minute I feel like something is off, I'm taking a pod and leaving."

 

 She nodded, then turned and led everyone out of the room. Hunk and the man, Shiro, waited for you to follow and walked behind you. You kept pace with the group easily, eyes wandering up to the high ceiling. A soft blue glow lit up the hallway, leaving no dark corners to hide. You glanced back at Shiro, giving him a once over. Something about him was eerily familiar to you, but you couldn't put your finger on it. His dark eyes met yours, but you didn't turn away immediately.

 

"Demmoria, huh?" He says. You stiffened at his words, but didn't say anything. "I've never heard of it before." Was he doubting you? You squinted at him.

 

"If its true what your leader said, then it was ravaged by another," You glared at him. "Seems inefficient to check dead planets without reason."

 

"I'm sorry; inefficient?" Hunk quipped lightly, raising a hand. You looked at him, confused.

 

"A waste of resources." It was silent after that, and the troupe turned a corner and into some kind of a dining area. The table was almost excessively long, with more chairs then there were people now. You think back; these are the only people you've seen since waking up from the healing pod. "Where is the rest of your crew?"

 

The Altean almost looked sheepish. "This is our crew." You looked around the room at everyone. Six in total, one Altean, the others... their origins were unknown to you. "But I must ask; where is the rest of _your_ crew?"

 

Your eyes widened. Plurp! You completely forgot about your number one in all the chaos. If the Altean was honest with you... "One other. On my ship... They might have been injured in the crash."

 

"But we scanned the ship when we brought it back; there were no other signs of life," The other girl spoke. You would have to start learning their names. Or maybe start addressing them by their colors.

 

You looked at her. "You scanned for life, yes, but Plurp isn't _alive_ , per say," When all you got were confused looks, you continued. "They're a piloting robot salvaged from an Altean wreck. I had modified them myself to help me with my ship. Chances are, they survived, but I will want to go see for myself to make sure."

 

"Of course, when we're done here, someone will go with you to your ship. Hopefully you'll be able to find, uh, Plurp," She smiled softly, then dropped it once more. "But first we need to know how you got here. We're currently not in the most obvious of places."

 

You shrug, leaning back on your chair. You were still a little on edge, being out numbered and such, but if they believed you were calm then they would be calm as well. "I don't exactly know the mechanics of _how_ , but, truthfully? I was on a mission. Some of the..." You looked back up the Altean. "Some of our military was captured along with multiple innocents. I was part of a larger fleet to retrieve them. I was... chased. Into a wormhole. Then my wing got clipped and I hit the wall and found myself falling to the surface."

 

It was silent as everyone thought about what you said. You motioned around the room. "What are your names? I already know Hunk," At the mention of his name, Hunk smiled and scratched the back of his head. "And Shiro." It was said almost as an after thought.

 

"Oh, I apologize, I'm Princess Allura," She smiled sheepishly again, then gestured to everyone else. "The three you don't know are Keith, Lance, and Pidge; these are the Paladins of Voltron."

 

Lance, the one in the blue, stood. "Hey, how come you introduced Keith before me?" You gave him the side eye. Was it really that important to him? He met your eyes before smiling slyly and leaning in. "Hi."

 

You nodded, slightly put off. Then you looked at Keith and Pidge; the red and green paladins. Keith was standing against the wall, studying you. Pidge was looking at some type of data pad extended from her armor. You didn't stay turned from Allura for long. She may have seemed nice, but they all did at beginning. Hunk moved to look at what Pidge was doing, and Shiro moved closer to Allura's left.

 

"So what happened to Demmoria, exactly?" He asked. You were about to answer when another voice interrupted you.

 

"Demmoria, haven't heard that name in a while," You looked to the doorway to find another Altean, although his hair was bright orange and his facial markings were blue. "I see our extra human is awake. Why did no one get me?"

 

Your eyes widened. "You told me it was just you six," You turned to Allura, stone cold expression, before standing. You looked at the other Alrean, who was standing there, shocked. "And I'm not a, a, whatever you called me. I'm a Demmorian."

 

His eyes widened, looking to the Princess for confirmation. When she nodded, he took a tentative step backwards. "B-but that's impossible! Demmoria was blown to smithereens ages ago!" You glared at everyone. Well, this was turning out to be quiet the talk. Every fiber of your being told you to run, get out of here. But they had your ship, your _broken_ ship. There was no way you were every going to even leave the planet without it.

 

You closed your eyes, head hanging as you thought. You needed your ship back online. And Plurp. By the stars, you needed Plurp. You clenched your fist and slowly breathed. When you calmed down enough, you opened your eyes and looked at Allura.

 

"I want to go to my ship."


	3. Your Co-Pilot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I am very, very, really sorry. I know scrap-all about spacecraft and the vocab involved. I tried the internet, but literally found nothing. So I apologize to those who know the terms and get frustrated with me for not knowing. Anyways... enjoy!

You were definetly on edge and feeling very in the wrong. Was it okay to go off like you did when one other being entered the room? Probably not, but they all seemed respectful enough to fulfill your request. Pidge was leading you to where your ship was being held. She said it was to help assess the damage, but you saw the literal stars in her eyes when you mentioned Plurp.

 

The red one - Keith, if you remembered correctly - was walking behind you. His distrust radiated from his stare. Honestly, you didn't blame him. All you have done was waste their resources in rescuing you, then healing you. All you did in return was threaten their leader with a gun. His stare was starting to irritate you, however, and you shot him a glare over your shoulder, hoping to discourage him in any way.

 

His stare increased ten fold.

 

"So, (y/n)," Pidge started, interrupting your glare off. "We've actually never heard of Demmoria."

 

You raised your chin. "So it was mentioned by Shiro. I will tell you what I told him; there is no reason to check dead planets."

 

"Dead?" Her question caught you off guard, but before you could answer, the hallway tapered off into a larger room. The ceilings were as high as the room was wide, and numerous tools and wires littered the floor. By the door was your ship. At least, you thought it was your ship.

 

"By the stars..." You croak, running to it. The whole thing was wrecked! Parts of the hull were extremely caved in, some so far that you could see the inside from where you stood. There were large and ragged cuts from meeting the planet's surface. Your booster engines were shot; it would take several lunar cycles to get one of them running, much less both. The more you stared, the more you noticed, the more your hope for a speedy escape fell.

 

You ran around to the back, your escorts close behind. The bay door was lowered (and severely dented, much to your dismay). You stood, gazing into the darkness that was the inside of your ship. You brought your hands around your mouth and took a breath.

 

"Plurp!" You called. When you were met with silence, you furrowed your brow. "Plurp? C'mon, man, its safe!" More silence. Then, a dim light flickered on. There was a bit of whirring noises before the robot dashed out. You were already on your knees to greet them. You hugged Plurp as much as you could, already feeling calm in its presence.

 

"I'm glad you're safe," You whispered. It made a soft beeping noise in response that made you smile. When you released your bot and turned back to your escorts, your eyes widened. Keith had a sword out and ready to attack, while Pidge stood behind him, eyes already sizing up Plurp. "Guys, Plurp is a piloting robot. They're not programmed to fight at all." To prove your point, Plurp moved forward slightly and gave a well meaning chirp.

 

Pidge gasped and moved too fast for your eyes to follow. She was walking around your bot, examining it wholeheartedly and talking to it animatedly. Keith, though, slowly lowered his sword. Feeling less threatened, you looked back to your ship and assessed the damage once more. There was no doubt you lost parts when you crashed. You started a mental checklist of all the things you would have to check for and the kinds of tools you would need to fix your ship. You sighed, giving up after adding number thirty to your list and looked back at Plurp.

 

They were 'speaking' to Pidge, who nodded along and responded in kind. Keith was looking more at ease now and was standing a bit closer, looking over Pidge's shoulder. He was about to speak when he saw you walking over. He unfolded his arms and met you half way.

 

"Thank you for bringing me to my ship," You say, eyes still on Plurp. Something seemed a bit off. Maybe you will have to check them for any injuries.

 

"What is it, exactly?" Your eye twitched at _it_.

 

"Firstly, _they_ are not an _it._ Plurp has a conscience, although they do communicate via varying whirs and chirps," You state blandly; you've had to recite the same speech too many times to the rest of your fleet after your salvaged them. "Secondly, Plurp is an Altean piloting robot. They were used in previous wars when they could not afford casualties. My crew stumbled upon a ship graveyard and went searching. They were an extraordinary find, honestly."

 

"It-" You shot him a quick glare. "- _they_ are Altean? Doesn't look Altean." You raised an eyebrow. Didn't look Altean?

 

"While I did fix them up, I stayed true to the original design," That was true; as much as you wanted to change the colors, you didn't. Keeping the black and red colors of the Altean race felt more rebellious. "Though, I was and still am severely unfamiliar with Altean programming and technology, which resulted in Plurp's-" They let out a scream, to which Pidge laughed at. "-Personality."

 

"Yeah, but you said _Altean_. Have you not seen the tech around here?" Keith looked at you expectantly. Your eyes widened as you thought back. True enough, everything you remembered has been blue and white. Looking around now, this ship was significantly different than the other Altean ships you've been on. Keith nodded, sensing your realization. "And you said you came here through a wormhole?" You nodded, raising a hand to your chin.

 

"I've heard that the people are never heard from after they collide with the walls of one. I always thought they were met with agonizing death," You gazed back at your damaged ship in thought. "This is something that's both worse and better than death."


	4. Plurp and Blue

You were glad that you had something to do. Lance had informed you that, besides training, eating, and sleeping, there was almost nothing else to do inside the castle. So in the workshop you stayed. At least, you think it was a workshop. There were at least two other stations closer to the door, and various mechanical and computer parts were strewn around them. You had found an empty station buried under more junk, and that's where you began your work.

 

Your very first order of business was fixing up your number one. You were right in saying that Plurp was injured in the crash. While the outside only showed minor damage, some of their internal machinations were jostled loose. That's why they were acting weird when you introduced them to Keith and Pidge.  You had shut them down for the time being, deciding that you didn't want to subject them to that kind of horror. You knew they would try to be helpful and tell you what you were supposed to do, but after a while even that would get annoying.

 

Hunk had graciously lent you a pair of gloves and some safety goggles, then let you be. You were grateful for it, honestly. It gave you a bit of time to process how you got here and why these Alteans were so different from the ones you have encountered. And what an 'extra human' was. The second Altean (Coran, you later learned) had called you that and you were still baffled by what kind of species it was.

 

At the moment, though, you were taking a small break from Plurp's repair. The goggles were pushed onto the top of your head, frazzling some of the hair there. Your jacket was buried under some of the junk under the table, and you rolled the sleeves of your shirt to your elbows so they wouldn't get in the way. You were splotched with grease spots (how, you don't even know) and sweaty from the intense focus. You rubbed your face in exhaustion.

 

"Tired?" A voice questioned. You jumped, one hand instantly going to your holster and the other raised to block any incoming attacks. Lance stood there, unfazed, holding another plate of green goo and a glass of water. You relaxed, slowly lowering your arms and feeling slightly embarrassed. You have done the same thing for the past four lunar cycles. The first time, Lance had reacted by throwing the plate and its contents into the air. You both spent quite a bit of time cleaning it all up.

 

You took the plate from him and leaned against the table. After his initial introduction, he started to grow on you. He wasn't extremely overbearing and was respectful when you brushed off his advances. He comes in every now and again with some food and his company. With Plurp out of commission, it was slightly welcomed.

 

He gestured to said robot. "Have you figured out your problem yet?" You shook your head, chewing a spoonful of goo.

 

You sighed after you swallowed and looked back to your robotic friend. "I had a rather upsetting thought; what if I just took out all of his wiring and start from scratch?" You took a sip of water as Lance poked at some of Plurp's loose wires. "It would definitely solve one problem, but create a new one."

 

"What kind of problem?" You set down the glass, deciding to rummage around for that spare rag Pidge found for you.

 

"I would lose a friend," When Lance didn't respond right away, you looked over your shoulder at him. He was staring at Plurp's body with distant eyes, a slight frown setting itself on his lips.

 

It was silent between the two of you before he spoke once more. "You know, I don't know what I would do if Blue was went offline," You gave him a quizzical look. "Blue? My giant robot lion that I defeat evil with?" He sent you a pout.

 

"Oh! Your robot!" You exclaim, finally remembering. When you didn't feel up for talking, Lance would tell you tales of their exploits across the stars, clearly over exaggerating many details. Him and Blue were the main stars and heroes of many of those stories. "Wait, has Blue never malfunctioned?"

 

"Once, but that was on this kind of ice, water planet. It didn't take long to get her running again," Lance struck a heroic pose. "It also didn't take me long to save an entire race of mermaids form a man-eating garden."

 

You hummed, throwing the towel around your neck and picking up your water. "Hunk told me about that, I think," He had. "Was this before or after you were brainwashed?"

 

"Hey, he got brainwashed too!" Lance folded his arms again. "And he stayed brainwashed until I saved him." You pat his shoulder as you drank. A comfortable silence fell over you two as you began working on Plurp once more.

 

"You speak highly of your robot," You muse after a while, taking a quick glance at your companion. "You two must have quite the bond."

 

Lance nods enthusiastically and, before he could explain, you spotted another being enter the room over his shoulder. You stand fully, eyebrows furrowing at the sight of Coran. He was holding a tray with more green goo and water. He spotted you and Lance talking.

 

"Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you might be hungry," He holds up the tray with a smile, then lowers it as he steps forward more. "I also came by to see your progress." You looked down at your 'progress', then back at Coran. He hadn't moved at all, almost as if he was waiting for you to allow him closer.

 

You thought for a while. Like you had told Keith, you were not that experienced with Altean technology. Coran was an Altean. And he did seem relatively harmless. Hadn't Hunk said something about him fixing up the Castle?

 

Sighing, you beckoned him forward. "Actually, not much progress has been made. I can't remember how I got Plurp running in the first place, and I'm scare of..." You gave Lance a quick look. "Of screwing up if I put the wrong wire in the right place."

 

"Oh, well, I'll see what I can do to help!" He was friendly man, and you almost felt bad for your over the top reaction the first time you two met.

 

You bit down a smile of relief. "Any help would be much appreciated."


	5. Helping Hands

You watched as Coran rummaged around your friend's innards. Well, rummaged sounds a little too hostile for what he was actually doing. Lance had stuck around a little while longer, but left with the tray and plates back to the kitchen.

 

"I don't understand anything that's happening right now," He had said, turning with the tray. "I'm going to go see if Hunk needs a taste tester for his next recipe."

 

You had waved goodbye, but focused on what Coran was doing. If he knew what he was doing, then it wouldn't help you any to not pay attention in case you needed to fix Plurp again in the future. Occasionally he would ask for a tool and you would hand it to him, then the quiet surrounded you two once more.

 

"So I must ask," He started. You just nodded, your bottom lip finding its way between your teeth. "How long have you been with Plurp?"

 

You paused. How long _had_ you been with Plurp? "Well, I was recruited closer to the beginning, and we found them a while after that..." You ran the numbers and your eyes widened in admiration as you looked at your robotic friend. "I'd say close to five or six planetary cycles." You nodded. That sounded right. You smiled. "I remember how crazy they were after they woke up. With all the noise we made in the lab, my fleet thought an enemy had made its way into our base." You laugh, causing a slight chuckle from Coran as well.

 

"And when you say the beginning... what do you mean?" He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. "I can only assume you mean a war or battle of some sort." You were shocked at this. How were these two Alteans so far from the rest of their race that they didn't know what's going on?

 

You just nodded. "I do, unfortunately," You sighed, looking back at your damaged ship. "But first I would like to thank you, Allura, and the rest for your hospitality. I realize that my crash landing interrupted your operations."

 

Coran waved away your thanks. "There has been a lull in Galra activity, actually. Your landing was quite the distraction from the regular schedule," He turned away from your bot. "I am truly sorry for what happened to Demmoria. I was assisting King Alfor when we received the distress beacon."

 

"You received a beacon?" You felt the anger boil just underneath your skin, your voice accusing. "You received a beacon and you didn't do anything?" Coran looked up, eyes wide.

 

"We couldn't do anything," He continued. "By the time we got there, the Galra had already destroyed the planet and left. Parties were sent out to search for life but..." He looked down once more, saddened. Now you felt bad for snapping at him. You looked away from him, choosing to look at Plurp's still-gutted body.

 

"Demmoria was one of the first planets to fall under the Galra's reign, more than ten million years ago. So you can understand our confusion when you said that was your home world," Your eyes were fixed on a grease spot on the table. You don't think you could meet his eyes. "We are not who you think we are." Coran proved you wrong; your eyes snapped up to meet his. He had said it with such conviction and truth, you instantly felt every fiber in your being chill and relax simultaneously.

 

"Allura sent you to tell me this, didn't she?" You asked softly, searching his eyes. He nodded sheepishly, but didn't turn from your stare. You broke eye contact, looking back at your ship.

 

 _Not who you think we are_.

 

It rang through the silence as you thought about this. You looked back up at him. "If you are not my enemy, who are you then?"

 

"Well, one would hope a friend, but with how you pointed a gun at the princess? It will probably take time for you to fully trust us." You nodded solemnly. "But until then, we wish to become your allies. We don't know who you were fighting, but we are willing to share our resources."

 

You scoff. "That's not the smartest of ideas," Coran cocked his head to the side.

 

"How so?"

 

You shook your head, swallowing down the wave of emotion. "I'm fighting a revolution against Alteans."

 

~~

 

_“Hey,” you jumped, totally unaware that someone had been coming. You had some down time and decided to spend it in your bunk. He laughed._

 

_You unclenched your hand, frowning at the new creases in the picture you were staring at. “Hi. I wasn’t expecting any visitors,” you smoothed the picture out as best as you could._

 

_“Sorry,” Ecklak said, still chuckling. He sat down besides you on your bunk and looked over your shoulder. “What’s that?”_

 

_You sighed, figuring that the creases were going to stay. “It’s.. my family.” You turned it so he could see it. It was beautiful outside, and your parents thought it might be fun to go have the second-meal outside, under a tree you don’t remember the name of._

 

_You pointed at each individual. “That’s my mother and father. They met in their younger years and stuck with each other since then. The little boy on my mother’s back is my brother.”_

 

_Silence._

 

_“Are they-“_

 

_“I hope so,” you interrupted. “I don’t want them going through all of what I had.”_

 

_Ecklak patted your back some. “If it’ll make you feel better, we found another prison ship. Clyzote sent me to come get you for a retrieval mission,” He stood and walked to the door, turning to look at you over his shoulder. “You up for it?”_

 

_You stared at the picture a little while longer before folding it neatly and putting it in your pocket._

 

_“Always.”_

 

_~~_

 

"Ten million years?" You question incredulously. "You were asleep for ten million years?" Coran nodded softly, leading you down the hallway. He was taking you to see the princess so you could explain your predicament.

 

"Zarkon had attacked, hoping to steal the lions when King Alfor put the princess and I to sleep." You both turned a corner.

 

"Then how did you wake up?"

 

"Why, the paladins, of course!" He sounded up-beat. twisting the end of his mustache between two fingers proudly. "Alfor had sent the lions to the far reaches of the galaxy. They had managed to find the blue lion and brought her, and themselves, here."

 

You tried to wrap your head around this. "So... Zarkon attacked Altea for the lions, the King sent them away and put you two to sleep for ten million years," You spoke slowly, Coran nodding along. "And during that entire time, Zarkon eradicated the rest of your race?" He flinched at that. "Sorry."

 

"What happened has happened," Coran responded softly. "While the wound may still be fresh, it is healing."

 

You gave a small smile. "One of my commanders told me something along those lines as well." You both fell silent for the last stretch of your journey. When you entered the room, you gasped in awe. The room stayed true to the theme of wide space and high ceiling. the windows wrapped around the majority of the room, giving the most beautiful view of the planet you've ever seen. The sun was just setting, and the light blue of the atmosphere was turning the most gorgeous shades of purple and red.

 

Everyone turned at the sound of your gasp. Shiro gave you a small grin. "We've been wondering where you were hiding."

 

"Princess, we must speak with you," Coran insisted gently. Everyone glanced at each other, confusion clearly drawn on their features. "In private, if you will."

 

"What's this about?" She questioned, stepping off the slightly raised platform she was on. Nervously, you looked at Coran. "I'll stay here. It might be easier for her to hear it from you." He nodded, gesturing to Allura before swiftly exiting with her.

 

"What was that all about?" Hunk asked. You shifted on your feet as their collective gazes landed on you. Should you really tell them? Would they actually believe you? From what you've heard from Lance and what you've seen, there was no way they would.

 

You decided against saying anything. At least for the time being. "Allura will explain it to you in time." You jumped slightly when Lance magically appeared next to you and slung an arm around your shoulders.

 

"As long as she does that, we're good. What do you think about the Castleship?"

 

"Castle... ship?" You eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean?"

 

"He means," Pidge sighed. "When we get it fixed, the castle turns into a spaceship."

 

"The castle flies?" You thought back. Does that mean all _their_ ships were part castle as well? "Wait, is it broken?"

 

Hunk nodded. "There was a bit of a really rough battle not too long ago. The castle took a couple of hard hits," He made wide circle motions with his hands. "We had to wormhole it out of there pretty quick."

 

"The whole process has been kind of slow," Shiro added, stepping in front of you. "We'd be happy for the extra help, if you wanted to."

 

"Yeah, and who knows! Maybe you'll find parts for your ship, too!" Lance cut in. You looked to Keith, who has been watching the whole interaction from where he stood. Lance squinted, looking between the two of you suspiciously. "What're you looking at Hot Topic for? You don't need his approval for anything." He waved him off, turning up his nose slightly.

 

Keith sighed. "Hot Topic? Was that the best you could come up with?"

 

"Well, I don't hear you coming up with anything better." Lance retorted, removing his arm from around you and going to stand in front of Keith.

 

"Right, because I continually make up names for you to call me." As they continued to bicker, Hunk and Pidge found their way on your left and right respectively.

 

"This happens all the time." Pidge sighed.

 

Hunk nodded. "Yup. And cue Shiro in three, two-"

 

"Guys!"

 

"- Dang it, I'm always early on that."

 

You watched as Shiro calmly talked Lance and Keith off of each other's throats. The feeling of recognition washed over you once more. Why did that keep happening? You know he reminds you of someone, but who? And why? If you could pinpoint why he reminded you of someone, you would know who he reminded you of. You scrunched up your nose at your logic. That didn't sound right, but it made some sense. You would have to think on it later.

 

"So what do you say?" Shiro asked, snapping you our of your thoughts. Lance and Keith were on opposite sides of the room, arms crossed and pouting/seething.

 

You sighed, pausing some to study his eyes. They were honest, calm. You shivered when that feeling came back full force. "I'll go help salvage parts," You held up your hand to stop everybody from speaking. "On one condition."

 

they hesitated. Shiro nodded a bit after their almost mental conversation. "Depends on what it is." His arms were crossed.

 

"Can someone tell me what a _Hot Topic_ is?"


	6. From Terrors to Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ: I’m... sorry. I don’t know what direction I intended this chapter to go, but I’m not completely upset about where it went. 
> 
> Be warned; the reader does go into this panic/anxiety induced hallucination/nightmare thing. I don’t know know exacly how to describe it, but maybe you’ll get it when you read. But I just felt the need to warn you about it. 
> 
> If it’s too much for too many people, I’ll take this chapter down and rewrite it.

You were nervous. It was late on the planet and everyone had gone to sleep. Or so you thought.

 

You had decided to stay up and look over your ship, making note of any missing parts and measuring the cuts. You were getting ready for scavenging. The ship was between you and the door, so you didn't see who had walked in. You had heard the footsteps as they entered.

 

"Just a minute!" You had called, taking a few more seconds to write down the final measurements of a particularly large cut.  When you finished, you had walked around the ship cheerfully, but had stopped short, emotions and blood running cold.

 

The Princess stood tall before you now, eyes staring strong and expression in a well practiced blank slate. Her hair flowed freely around her as she stepped forward some more. You shuffled away from her anxiously, jumping when your back met the ship wall and dropping the pencil and paper you were holding. Your eyes widened as your hands fumbled about you. She knew. She knew and now she was going to kill you.

 

"Coran told me. About the revolution you are a part of," Her voice was stern. Of course she knew; Coran couldn't keep anything from her. You allowed him to talk to her. Why did you think that was going to be a good idea? You eyes landed behind her, on the table. Your weapon. You thought that, because everyone was asleep, you would be safe. Now you were trapped with an angry Altean, defenseless. She sighed, eyes closing and fists clenched tightly at her side. "I just want to know one thing." Her shining eyes opened once more and stared at you.

 

You gulped, shrinking under her gaze. She emanated control and power. You blinked, and for a second you saw the carnage of Demmoria around you, Allura replaced with the sinister shadow of the Altean soldier. Then you blinked once more and it was gone.

 

"I must know..." She trailed off, swallowing to steady her voice. "I must know if you killed any Alteans." Your heart stopped, a cold sweat breaking out all over.

 

"M-me?" Your voice was mousy, tiny compared to her strong aura. "I never - I couldn't..."

 

 _"It will be okay, (y/n),"_ You blinked again, and suddenly you were back at the base, Ecklak patting you on the shoulder. _"You're not ready to fight yet. That's understandable. We'll just have you run supply runs and retrieval missions until you are. After all, you’re one of our better pilots!”_

 

"(y/n)?" You were back with Allura. She looked concerned now, looking like she was debating on whether to reach out or leave you be. "Are you okay?" You were shaking, your knees physically knocking into one another. You reached behind to brace yourself against the ship. You hung your head, exhausted, your free hand resting against your face  

 

“N-no,” You stutter, swallowing hard. What was happening to you? When you looked up, the workshop, your ship, even Allura began to dissolve around you. Soon you were standing in a hallway. The walls were ebony black, accented by red lights. You twisted around you, finding yourself alone.

 

“Allura?” Your voice echoed uncomfortably. “Where-”

 

 _”There she is!”_ You spun towards the voice. Two Altean soldiers were standing at the end of the hallway, one pointing at you. Panic seized you and you bolted the other direction, the soldiers not far behind. You let your instincts take charge, your feet deciding when to turn for you. 

 

Eventually you stopped in front of a door. You paused, debating on entering or not. The soldiers chasing you decided for you, and you threw yourself in. 

 

The door shut behind you. You pushed yourself against it, eyes firmly closed and breath heavy. Only when the rushed footfalls slowly tapered off in the distance did you open them back up. Your hand flew up to hold back a scream. 

 

Standing in front of you was a gigantic shadow. They turned their head your direction and began walking toward you. You plastered yourself as close to the door as you could, heart rate soaring. When they were just one step away, the door opened and you fell, letting out a terrified scream.

 

You blinked away tears and scrambled away from the door, kicking yourself as far from it as you could. When you reached the opposite wall, you looked up to find you were back on the Castleship. Shiro was standing in the doorway staring at you, wide eyed and concerned.

 

“(y/n)?” His voice was soft and calming. Your breathing was heavy and you were shaking still. You jumped when you heard running on your left, turning in time to see Allura coming to where you two were at. You began to scramble away from her, but Shiro’s voice made you look at him again. 

 

“Hey, (y/n), look at me,” Your wide eyes met his dark ones. You saw him raise his right arm, silently asking Allura to stop moving. His other was inching towards you slowly, palm upturned. “You’re safe, I promise.”

 

An image of your commander, Clyzote, flashed in front of your eyes, but was gone the second it came. Shiro was still standing in front of you, offering his hand for you to take. 

 

“It’s okay,” He took a cautious step toward you. Slowly, and shakily, you reached up and grabbed his hand. It was warm and helped calm you down. Gently, Shiro pulled you from the wall. Soon you found yourself wrapped in his arms, face in his chest, sobs wracking your body. 

 

He gripped you tight, one hand rubbing your back in a soothing manner. You barely heard more footsteps coming towards you over Shiro’s soft words. You never lifted your head from Shiro’s chest.

”What happened? Princess?” You hear Coran ask. 

 

“I-I just meant to talk to her,” Allura replied. “I never thought...”

 

“We heard screaming-”

 

“Oh my gosh, (y/n) are you okay?” Keith was interrupted by Lance.

 

”What’s going on?” Pidge asked. 

 

“Is everything okay?” That was Hunk. 

 

“Everything is fine,” Shiro spoke. You could feel his words vibrate from where your face was buried. “Hunk-”

 

”A warm drink. Already on it,” You heard footsteps fade away. 

 

“As for the rest of you; go back to your rooms. It’s been a long night, and I’m sure (y/n) is under enough stress as is,” you clutched tighter to his shirt as he spoke. Warmth radiated off of him and his presence was comforting. 

 

 "But (y/n)-" lance started, only to be cut off by Shiro.

 

"Bed. I'll help her out," You pulled your head away from Shiro's chest to look at Lance.

 

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," Everyone paused, but gradually went their own ways. When everyone left, Shiro pulled away gently and led you to sit on his bed. He draped the comforter over your shoulders. It took a second, but you realized the lights off. You stared at him blankly as he sat to your right. He stared at you silently for a large stretch of time before he sighed.

 

"Usually when I do this, people just open up to me. I barely have to open my mouth," He gave you a sleepy and strained smile. You ran a hand over your face, flinching at how wet it was.

 

"I apologize for barging into your room. I didn't mean to wake you, much less everybody."

 

He let out an embarrassed chuckle. "That's fine. I wasn't asleep anyways," You nodded. "Why were you running from the Princess?" His sudden change in demeanor shocked you. While his voice was soft, almost fatherly, a stern note leaked though. It let you know he was not letting you leave soon.

 

You scratched the back of your neck. "I haven't been sleeping much either-"

 

"(y/n) -"

 

"Let me finish," You stared at your hands. "Being on this ship with two Alteans has been beyond stressful. I get very little sleep and only eat what Lance brings me."

 

"Does this have anything to do with what Coran told Allura earlier today?" You nodded and stayed silent. After a few moments, you reached into your pocket and pulled out two photos. You unfolded both and handed the first one to Shiro. "What's this?"

 

"This is my family," You gave a soft smile. "At least, that's my biological family. This-" You handed him the other one; you had taken a picture of your entire crew in the mess hall one day. "-is my second family." Shiro looked over both pictures, studying each face intently.

 

"Are any of them-" Before he could finish, the door slid open, letting in sudden and very bright light.

 

Hunk stood proudly in the doorway, a cup of steaming iquid in one hand. "A hot beverage as requested," He stated loudly, walking over with an over-the-top flamboyant air. "For you, my lady." He placed the cup in your hands. You looked at its contents, then back at Hunk. The liquid was slightly sludgy looking, and tinted orange. He looked at you expectantly. You glanced at Shiro. He was smirking proudly when he nodded at you.

 

"Hunk is an excellent chef. You'll like it, I promise." You sighed and carefully brought the cup to your lips. It was pleasently warm, tingling the top of your tongue. You smiled, sighing as the warmth ran down your throat and spread throughout your chest. You back hunched slightly as you took another sip, relishing in the slightly fruity taste. "See, told you."

 

You swallowed. "How did you make a hot drink that tastes like fruit?" You asked.

 

"Well, it's really simple, see," Then Hunk launched into a whole explanation that didn't sound simple at all. But he was excited and ranted on while you and Shiro patiently listened until the end. "But yeah, I'm gad you liked it." Hunk gave you a smile when he finished, scratching the back of his head.

 

"You will have to bring me more while I am in the workshop," You suggest, thumb running over the rim of the glass. "You are welcome at anytime, really. You too, Shiro." They smiled at your offer.

 

"It's late," Hunk yawned, making his way to the door. "I'll see you two in the morning."

 

"Goodnight, Hunk," Shiro called after him. Then he looked back to you. "Are you feeling any better?"

 

You smiled, looking down at your cup. "I am," You looked at the picture of your crew he was still holding. You pointed at a strongly built blue figure, standing near the edge of the photograph. "You remind me of my commander. That's why you seemed so familiar. He is almost exactly like you, except he's blue. Even the scar is in the same place." It was true, while the scar was across Clyzote's face, the picture didn't speak to his character too much.

 

"Why isn't he smiling?" He was scowling in the picture, arms cross.

 

"He doesn't like having his picture taken." You chuckle some at the memory. "He even scolded me on taking the photo. Told me it was a waste of resources and time. So, naturally, I made him a copy and framed it for him." Shiro laughed with you, but the laughter soon died down as you both stared at the pictures. Your fingers traced the edge of image, names of each crew member popping up in your head as you looked over their faces.

 

"I know it's a stupid question, but," Shiro spoke softly, gently handing back your photos. Your eyes switched over to the one of your smiling family. "Do you miss them?" You felt small tears gather at the corner of your eyes, but quickly blinked them away.

 

"Tremendously."


	7. Late Nights, Early Mornings

You and Shiro talked quietly amongst yourselves as he escorted you back to the workshop. HIs voice was calming, a complete change from Lance's. A comfortable silence did fall over the two of you when you entered the workshop. You sighed sadly, gazing forlornly at your broken ship and to Plurp.

 

"Is this that piloting bot you were talking about?" Shiro bent at the waist to give your friend's insides a once over.

 

"They are. Their name is Plurp," Your fists landed on your hips. "Can't figure out what's wrong with them, though. I figured some of the wiring was loose, but its such a mess I can't tell."

 

Shiro glanced at you before examining Plurp again, reaching for a pair of pliers. "Did you get Coran to take a look?" You nodded.

 

"I did, but we got... interrupted... before he could take a good look." He hummed and nodded, reaching inside with the tool. "What are you doing?"

 

"Well, I'm no expert on robots, but..." He dug the pliers farther into Plurp and pulled out a metal shard. "I this might be your problem."

 

You stared. How could you have missed that? "Where was it?" You asked, taking the shard from him to get a closer look. It was a little shorter than your thumb, but just as thick, with jagged edges and sharp points on either end.

 

Shiro shrugged. "It was lodged in the way back. You might need a couple new parts to replace the ones this broke, though." You moved the light so you could see inside more clearly. Sure enough, there was a small cut surrounded by severed wires. You were impressed. Both you and Coran thought it was the wiring when it was just a piece of shrapnel.

 

"How...?" You squinted up at Shiro. "Never mind. Thanks for the help. Plurp should be easier to fix now."

 

"It was no problem, I'm glad I could help," He paused, watching you dig for a small glass tube to put the scrap metal in. "We're going to be looking for more equipment in the next couple of days. I'm sure you could find some extra parts too." You nodded, clearing off a spot next to your friend on the bench and plopping down next to them. "I... hate to be nosy, but I have to know, for the safety of my crew-"

 

You held up a hand to stop him, closing your eyes with a heavy sigh. "I am safe to be around, I promise," You looked down at your hands again. "Alteans blew up my home." The atmosphere grew thick with tension and you didn't dare meet Shiro's gaze. "Demmoria came under fire. There was no declaration of war, not even a warning of the attack. W-we didn't..." Your body was quickly flooded with the memories and emotions of that day. You rubbed the phantom pain at your wrists. There was a hand on your shoulder.

 

Shiro squeezed it softly, and you looked up on the verge of more tears. "Have you told any of this to Allura?"

 

You shook your head, wiping away a stray tear. "No, she only knows of the revolution," You rubbed at your face was both hands, breathing heavily through your mouth. It calmed you a little bit, so when you didn't feel like crying again, you spoke. "I'm sorry to have kept you up all night long. You must be exhausted; please, I don't wish to take up more of your time."

 

Shiro gave you a small grin. "As long as you get to bed first. When I know you're asleep, I'll go get some shut eye for myself."

 

You nodded, suddenly feeling very drained at the thought of sleeping. You hopped off the bench and led Shiro inside your ship. You kicked away and stray tools from your path, you made your way to the left side of the cabin. Your ship wasn't very wide, but there was a small alcove built in so crew members could sleep in shifts on extremely long trips. The cots were comfortable enough, though you did wish for softer covers. The previous night when you almost collapsed from exhaustion, you had gathered as many of the pillows you could find and placed them on the bottom bunk.

 

You crawled under the covers, wrapping yourself in the blankets. Shiro sat on the one opposite of you, placing his elbows on his knees as he glanced around the small room. "This is... cozy." Your eyes could barely stay open, but you still tried to reply.

 

"I tried," You yawned, scratching your cheek. "Thank you for staying with me, Cly- I mean, Shiro." You heard a soft chuckle.

 

"Of course."

 

You snapped awake, finding that Shiro had gone. You sat up, trying to remember when you fell asleep. You crawled out of the cot and out of your ship. There was a note on your bot, and you walked up to read it.

 

_There's breakfast when you want it. And I promise it's not food goo. -Hunk._

 

You smiled, putting the note in your pocket and making your way to the mess hall. The walls echoed your footsteps eerily, and memories of last night's events made every muscle tense. You paused your trek, closing your eyes and breathing deeply. You couldn't panic now. And your stomach agreed. You forced the muscles to relax, though you couldn't stop the sweat from forming.

 

You found yourself in the mess hall fairly quickly, Hunk waiting patiently with a plate of food sitting across from him. He perked up when he noticed you and gave you a big grin. "Man, had you gotten up any later, your food would've gotten cold. And let's be honest, reheated food isn't as good as it was."

 

You smiled at his easy going tone as you took your seat across from him. You picked up the fork and dug into the food. Hunk casually talked to you about the plan for the day as you stuffed your face. You nodded, half listening, half enjoying the explosion of flavors dancing on your tongue. When your plate was cleared, you sighed happily and leaned back in your chair.

 

"Hunk, you are amazing," He flushed slightly at the praise. "I honestly wish we had a cook half as decent as you are back on base."

 

Hunk shrugged. "Cooking is an art. You have to treat every dish like Monet would a painting." Your eyebrows raised.

 

"Who's Monet?" He waved away your question.

 

"Earth culture isn't important right now. We have to get you to the bridge. Everyone's waiting for you. But first," Hunk stood, quickly exiting the room. Before you had time to question what he was doing, he was back. He handed you a thermos. "Its your drink from last night. You liked it so much I made you some more."

 

Your eyes widened. "Wow, I, uh, thanks Hunk!" You beamed up at him, taking the cup from him. "That's really thoughtful of you."

 

"Yeah, well, it's no problem, really," He motioned you up and led you out of the room. "Hey... so what happened? Last night? I heard the Princess wanted to talk to you and you were screaming. Everyone was worried."

 

You tightened your grip on your cup and looked out the window. You stopped walking at stared out it. The sky was a lovely shade of blue. "I honestly don't know. It was some sort of..." A flock of winged creatures were lazily drifting through the air. You watched them as you tried to describe it. What even was it? "A waking nightmare. But it made me realize something."

 

"What was it?" Hunk had taken a spot behind you on your left.

 

Your eyes met in the reflection of the window. "I don't belong here."


	8. Making a Plan

When you and Hunk made it to the bridge, your eyes widened as you took in the scene. Allura was on the podium in the middle of the room, Coran slightly off to her right, a gigantic hologram of what looked to be the entire universe surrounded everyone.

 

"None of the ships I have been on were able to do this," You murmur, walking to a nearby star (or planet, you couldn't tell) and swiping at it gently. You gigged slightly when your hand phased straight through it.

 

"Hunk, (y/n), glad you could make it," Shiro called, waving you both over. "We've got a location on some spare parts that we could use." You took the space on Lance's left. He nudged your shoulder gently.

 

"Hey, you okay?" You nodded, thanking him for his concern.

 

"Pidge and I were talking about some of the materials we need," Allura spoke, waving her arms in a swiping motion. The hologram moved with her hands. You gazed in awe.

 

"That time we hit the wormhole walls, we all ended up in different areas," Pidge cut in. "I had landed in this almost no-gravity zone. I had to build a communications device to send out a signal so the ship could find me."

 

"Pidge, you've already explained this once. I didn't understand it then, I won't understand it now. What's the point of reexplaining it?" Lance groaned. You giggled and he sent you a soft smile.

 

Pidge just rolled her eyes. "It's so (y/n) can know a bit of the backstory. Anyways, I kept the coordinates in case we needed them," Allura found what she was looking for and made a different motion with her hands. The map zoomed in closer, the object she found directly between her and the rest of the group. "It was basically a junk yard, full of spare parts. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."

 

"It could hold some of the parts we need to get the castle running again," Allura turned to the controls. "From what I saw, there was barely any room to safely navigate fully with the lions."

 

"There wasn't," Pidge agreed.

 

"So we'll want to be safe and go small," Shiro nodded in understanding. "Keith, you take (y/n) in Red. You're lion is the smallest and built for tight spots. Pidge will go in her lion.”

 

"Wait, why (y/n)?" Keith asked. He seemed fine with everything until your name popped up.

 

"Her ship is wrecked, and she's the only one who knows exactly what she needs," You shrunk under Keith's gaze. You still got the feeling he didn't trust you fully, and you were slightly apprehensive to go with. Sighing, Keith broke his eyes away stubbornly before nodding. "That's settled then. How much time will you need to get a wormhole ready?"

 

"Not very long," Coran answered. "We'll have enough power to get you there and back, so whenever our scavengers are ready."

 

“That gives you enough time to get ready,” Shiro looked at you. “Pidge said it was zero gravity. We can give you one of our spare helmets.”

 

You shook your head. “No need, I have one in my ship.”

 

He nodded. “Alright. Let’s go get those spare parts.”

 

Pidge followed you to your ship. You left her at the bench with Plurp while you dug around in the mess inside your ship. You wiped off the imaginary dust as you stepped out. 

 

Pidge was poking sadly at Plurp. “What’s wrong with them?”

 

You sigh, walking next to her as you made your way to the lions. “Hard to say. Shiro found this-” You pull out the small vial with the metal shard. “-lodged inside. I’m not sure how it got there, but it’s cut some of the wires. I’ll need to find some compatible ones to fix them fully.”

 

Pidge nodded along, agreeing with you. You began a conversation about the programming behind Plurp to fill up the silence. 

 

After a while, you found yourself in a room with the lions. Awe struck didn’t fully sum up what you were feeling. This was the first time you saw them in person. You slowly walked up to one and placed a gentle hand on its leg. 

 

You took note of every dent, scratch, and bump on the metal being. You smiled. “You must be Blue. I’ve heard a lot about you,” You murmur. You weren’t sure, but you thought you felt a soft vibration run through the robot. 

 

“Hey, (y/n)! Over here!” You turned to find Pidge standing next to her lion, this one green obviously, and Keith. You began to walk away, but waved a fairwell to Blue all the same.

 

You nodded to Keith as you made your way over. He nodded back and began speaking. “Let’s get going,” Pidge nodded and they both began walking to their lions. You stood there, unsure of who to go with. Keith looked at you over your shoulder. “Well?” You took that as your cue to go with him, so you jogged over. 

 

 You watched as the control panel lit up as soon as Keith sat down. Both the Green and Red lion roared as they came to life, clambering out of the castle and into the sky. A video feed of AllurA popped up to Keith’s right. 

 

“I’m opening the wormhole now. Good luck!” Just as the feed disappeared, said wormhole appeared. Keith and Pidge navigated the lions into it.

 

You gasped at what you saw on the other side. “By the stars.”


	9. The Kogane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is late! I know it's only a day late, but its still late and I'm sorry. Anyways... Here's chapter nine!

Keith pulled up to Pidge's right, both lions stalling. Allura was right; it was crowded here. You gulped, remembering the size of the lions. Were they all confident that these robots could navigate through there safely?

 

A video feed of Pidge popped up to Keith's right. "Okay, I know it looks a little daunting, but it's really not that bad."

 

"How did you find everything to make... anything?" Keith asked, eyeing the space junk.

 

”I had a little help! Follow me.” With that, the feed cut out and the green lion trudged forward slowly. You looked at Keith, who was slowly following Pidge. It seemed like she was leading you to the center of the mess. You watched from behind Keith while they maneuvered around each piece of junk.

 

"You're lions are amazing," You say softly. "I don't think I've ever seen machinery like this in my life." Keith didn't say anything. You eyed him quietly, wondering if he even trusted you. "If you don't trust me, why would you willingly be alone with me?" Keith continued to keep quiet. You sighed, looking out the window. You tried, but it didn't work.

 

"Because I don't trust you," You jumped at his stern words, not expecting him to even speak. "I know that if you were to attack me, I could subdue you. Pidge might be super smart and a good fighter, but you could take her out easy." You thought on that. It did make sense. But also being accused of being violent didn't settle nicely with you. True, you had been jumpy when you first woke up, but had good reason to be; you had no idea where you were or what had happened.

 

"I don't kill people," You spoke before you could stop yourself. Your eyes widened.

 

"But you have a gun," Keith stopped just behind Pidge, then looked back to give you a glare. "Why would you have a gun if you don't kill people?" You felt a small spark of anger deep within you, but tried to snuff it. He was only worried about the safety of his team. You could understand that. You pulled out your gun, Keith jumped back, taking out his bayard. "What are you doing?"

 

You held it in the palm of your hands, looking over every scuff. "It doesn't work," You raise your head to look into his eyes. "I only carry it because everyone is wary of firearms. I use it to keep guards at bay when we rescue prisoners. There's a piece that's missing, or its jammed, but either way it doesn't fire." Keith slowly lowered his weapon when you held out your gun for him to look. "I could never hurt anyone. I absolutely abhor killing. The people I'm fighting probably don't have a choice in this war. I don't want to take them from their families. I know what its like to lose someone that close to you. I wouldn't wish those feelings on my worst enemy."

 

At this point, Keith had fully put away his weapon and was examining the broken gun. "Its just for show?" You nodded. He sighed through his nose, then looked out to see Pidge had left her lion and was waving at you both to follow her. "We better get going." You nodded again, holstering your weapon and following Keith out. It was quiet between you two, but the tension had left. You smiled softly, pushing away from the lion to slowly glide after Keith. He was finally starting to trust you, you think.

 

After a bit of maneuvering and pushing off more junk, you made it to Pidge. She was rummaging around the junk like she was looking for something.

 

"Where are they?" She muttered, moving another piece of junk. "Guys?"

 

"Pidge, what is _this_?" You looked to Keith to see him scowling next to what looked to be a trash version of him. You let out a howl of laughter while he scowled more.

 

"Oh! You found my Trash Kogane! It means we're definitely in the right spot."

 

You clutched at your stomach while you tried to stop your giggling. When you finally managed to stop, you sighed. "Kogane?"

 

They both looked at you. "It's my last name." Keith answered. "Why?"

 

"Nothing," You murmur. "It just sounds familiar is all. I wonder where I've heard it before."

 

Keith gave you the side eye before looking back at Pidge and pointing at the sculpture. "I'm going to get you back for this, you know that right?"

 

She just shrugged. "I'm aware. I'm going over there though," she pointed away from you two. "I think some of the pieces for the ship are in that area."

 

You nodded. "I'll keep looking here." With that, you pushed your way around the junk and rummaged where you could. Keith pulled up next to you, watching your hands carefully weave through open wires.

 

"So what exactly are you looking for?"

 

"Wires, mostly," You chuckle, gesturing at what you were looking at. "Obviously. But other than that, I need some metal scarps for the cuts in my hull." It was silent for a while. When you looked up, Keith was looking inside what could have been part of a rocket booster. "What are you doing?"

 

He looked back at you. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you look." You were taken slightly aback, but shrugged it off nonetheless. "The faster you get back to wherever you came from, the better."

 

You laughed a bit. "I'm going to take that as you really want to help me and not you want to get rid of me." He sent you a crooked smile but didn't say anything on the matter. You paused what you were doing and thought some more. "I know I've heard 'Kogane' before, but I can't remember where."

 

"You've said. Hey, do any of these look like something you need?" And with that, you informed Keith on the specifics of what you needed and you both set to work. After a while, you had collected a small pile of jagged scraps.

 

You sighed, hands on your hips as you looked between your pile and where the lions were parked. "Great. Now how do we get this back to the lions?"

 

You and Keith whipped your head in the direction of laughter. Pidge emerged, a thick black cord wrapped around her waist and tied to some parts. Little floating blobs of color floated around her.

 

Keith huffed lightly, almost like a laugh. "I guess like that." As Pidge got closer, the little blobs became fuzzy and, upon closer examination, had faces.

 

You laughed. "By the stars, Pidge. Who are these guys?" A small blue one floated up to you, and you scratched the top of its head. It just blinked at you.

 

"I don't know exactly, but they're extremely helpful," She came to a stop and looked at your collection. "Are you guys ready to go?"

 

Keith nodded. "Yeah, let's get these to the lions." Soon, everything was in place and safely secured in each lion. "Hey Princess," A video feed of Allura popped up on Keith's screen. "We're ready." She nodded.

 

"I'll have the wormhole up in a bit." The feed disappeared and the lions navigated their way out of the trash field.

 

"Kogane," You whispered, then gasped when you remembered. "Oh, I'm stupid," Keith glanced at you curiously and you explained. " _Kogane_ is a delicacy on my planet. Its made with a mix of berries and fruits."

 

"A delicacy, you say?" Keith smiled smugly. "Have you told Lance yet? I think he should hear this."

 

You laughed. "Should I also tell him that its tart?" Keith's smile fell and you couldn't help but laugh some more.


	10. Mornings With Hunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice! That's the second chapter for this week and I am back on track! And don't worry; I'm already working on chapter eleven and twelve now, so they'll be up on time next week. Promise. If not... then I might upload three chapters, to make up for the lateness. Anyways, happy reading!!

You ran a tired hand over your face as you stepped out of your ship. You had spent a majority of last night working on repairing Plurp. They were almost completed when Shiro walked in and told you to get some sleep. You didn't know how tired you actually were until your head hit the pillow. You rubbed the sleep from your eyes and jumped when you bumped into something. Or some _one_.

 

"H-hey!" It was Hunk, one hand covering the lid to your thermos protectively. "I didn't get the lid on right." You smiled lightly as he handed you the cup. "Fresh out of the kitchen."

 

You took a grateful sip and sighed as the warmth flooded your systems. "Thank you as always, Hunk," You raised the cup in his direction before taking another sip. "What brings you out here so early?" Hunk walked over to the pile of scrap metal you scavenged with Keith. It was difficult to get it all to the workshop and close enough to make repairing easy. You hadn't touched any of it, too worried about your best friend to care about leaving yet. Plus, you needed them to help pilot the ship.

 

"You said I was welcome by anytime," He said, picking up a smaller disc and flipping it in his hands. "That, a-and I've got questions. Loads of questions. They've been eating me up and I just have to ask-"

 

"Hunk," Amused by his nervous ranting, you rested a hand on his bicep. "You can ask. I'll tell you if something’s too much." He smiled thankfully.

 

"Great, yeah, okay," He sighed through his nose and dropped the disc, wiping his palms on his pants. Then he paused, pointed at your ship, and looked at you. "Do you need help? With that? Repairing, I mean.” You chuckled a bit before nodding. You led him over to the ship and pointed out some of the major problems. He even shared some of his own ideas. When you finished talking technical you both stood quietly.

 

“What did you make for first-meal today?” Hunk’s face lit up even more and he waved at you to follow him. 

 

“It was nothing special, honestly, but everyone seemed to like it. I saved you a plate before everything disappeared.”

 

”I appreciate that, thank you,” You glanced up at him. His height and build made him seem like a scary guy, but he really was just this friendly giant. "And of course everyone liked it; you're an amazing cook."

 

"Oh, you're flattery will get you everywhere," He smiles jokingly. "But, yeah, I _am_ pretty good. I did popularize a food stall in a mall once. I didn't get to stay long, though. There was this security guard that was chasing us; we got away on a cow Lance and Pidge bought." 

 

You turned into the kitchen, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Cow? Is that some kind of vehicle?"

 

Hunk froze, wide eyed and surprised. "You don't know what-" He stopped himself then slapped his forehead. "Oh, wait, I forgot. You're not human. Right." You gave him a quizzical smile and sat down as he grabbed a plate of food and placed in front of you. "A cow is this kind of animal on Earth that produces milk or meat, depending on what kind of farmer you are."

 

You nodded, swallowing a bit of food. "We had something similar to that on Demmoria. We called it a Thern. They were extremely hostile and if you weren't proper at all, they would charge and impale you with its horn."

 

"R-right, well, Kaltenecker isn't, uh, hostile. Or impale-y at all." Hunk swallowed nervously. "What do you mean by proper?"

 

You smiled, remembering the ritual. "There was this system in place to get anything from them. Thern's were very intelligent beasts and required this sacrifice, almost," You laughed at Hunk's face at sacrifice, waving your hands. "No, nothing like that. They preferred fruits or some of the forestry." He sighed in relief. “Tell me about Monet. You mentioned them in our previous conversation.”

 

Hunk then went on a long speech about Monet and his artwork which then lead to you speaking of the greatest artists of Demmoria. Soon you two were comparing the history of your planets. Each question bringing you both to he edges of your seats in interest. Your meal was long finished before he asked the question that made you stall. 

 

“What was Demmoria even like?” Your pause was enough to get him to skirt back in his chair, hands waving in front of him. “Sorry, th-that’s, I mean, it’s too soon- er, you don’t have to-“

 

You raised a hand, stopping his babbling. Your gaze settled on the floor to your right. “No, no. It’s fine. You asked, I’ll answer,” You sighed through your nose, trying to find a good place to start. You closed your eyes tight, an image of your planet easily floating to your mind. “It was busy. The market places were always full; I had to hold my father’s hand whenever we went, otherwise I would lose him in the crowd. There was this little clearing, hidden in the Frothweed Forest that I found when I was just a youngling. I showed nobody besides my brother."

 

"Wow, that sounds really nice." You opened your eyes and looked off to your left, not ready to show Hunk the tears in your eyes.

 

"It was. I miss it so much. I miss Demmoria so much," You felt Hunk grab your hand and squeeze.

 

"I understand. I think everyone on this ship misses their home. Allura, Coran, the rest of the paladins," He sighed and you wiped at the corner of your eyes. "I'm sorry about what happened; it shouldn't have happened at all.

 

When you looked up, you saw the honesty and warmth in his eyes and smiled. You patted his hand with your free one. "Thank you, Hunk. I truly appreciate your companionship."

 

"It's glad to see you're getting around," You whipped your head around to see Pidge and Shiro standing in the doorway. You smiled softly and untangled your hands from Hunk's.

 

"Well, Hunk is an easy person to get along with," He grinned at your comment. "Its good to see you again Shiro, Pidge." You nodded at both.

 

They made their way to the table and sat down, Pidge on Hunk's right and Shiro on your right. "Same here," Pidge said.

 

"Why are you guys in your suits? Is there another scavenging quest we're going on?" Hunk asked.

 

Shiro shook his head. "No, nothing like that. We were just training a bit. We were actually looking for you, (y/n)," He looked to you, giving you an apologetic look. "Allura wants to talk with you." You swallowed thickly at that. You knew exactly why she wanted to talk; its been a couple days since that night. You rubbed your face with both hands as you thought. Were you up for this talk?

 

"(y/n)? You up for it?" Pidge asked. You sighed and looked at her through your fingers. Her and Hunk had worried looks etched onto their faces and, you guessed, Shiro was looking at you the same way.

 

"I'll go speak with her once I'm finished with Plurp," You removed your hands from your face and watched as Pidge's face lightened at the mention of your number one. You smiled, already sensing her next question. "Yes, I'm almost done with them. I would have finished them last night if _someone_ -" You gave Shiro a playfully pointed look. "-hadn't come in and told me to go to sleep."

 

He just shrugged. "I had to; it was late and you looked exhausted."

 

"So when do you think you'll get them finished?" Pidge was leaning over the table excitedly. Your smiled widened.

 

"Sometime today may-hey!" You yelped as Pidge shot out of her seat and grabbed your arm. "What are you doing?"

 

She pulled you out of your seat and began yanking you out of the mess hall. "You're almost done! C'mon, we've gotta go finish them!" You laughed as she tugged you all the way down to the workshop, Shiro and Hunk following shortly after.

 

When you got in front of your bench, you gently moved Pidge to the side and set to work. After a while with the casual chatter between the four of you, Plurp had all the right wiring and a little blue patch of metal where the cut was. You booted them up and watched excitedly as they came to life. They beeped joyfully and bounced off the table and into your waiting arms. You sighed, happy to finally have your number one back and well.

 

"I missed you, bud," You patted their backside and held them out at arms reach. "Glad you're back."


	11. The Talk

You watched as Plurp made their way to introduce themselves to the group. It was funny to watch Hunk and Shiro fumble, not entirely sure how to interpret Plurp's beeps and whirs. You couldn't help but laugh at the interaction. When you finally calmed down enough to help, Plurp was running around in circles, happy for new friends.

 

"Welcome to the life of having Plurp." You giggled as Pidge sat down in front of them, Hunk bending at the waist, both trying to get a closer look.

 

"Well, they're a, uh, spritely fellow," You tried to stifle your laughter at Shiro's awkwardness. He smiled at this. "You should take them to see the lions at some point."

 

You nodded. "With how often Lance was in here, I'm sure Blue has heard of Plurp numerous times." Your smile fell slowly when you realized something. "I'll have to go talk to Allura now, won't I?"

 

"Afraid so," Shiro gripped your shoulder. "Do you need one of us there?" You shook your head, folding your hands in front of you to stop them from shaking.

 

"N-no, I'll be fine," You gave him a shaky smile before making your way to Plurp. "Hey bud, ready to go meet a Princess?" You tried to keep your tone light, but you knew they knew something was off. They beeped quietly, following you out of the workshop.

 

They continued to beep as they looked around the castle. "Yeah, we've been here a while. Sorry it took so long to get you booted up," They whirred at you in forgiveness. "Thanks pal." Another series of whirs and beeps. "No, I didn't get hurt too bad. I think it was just getting hit in the head." A bleep. "I'm fine, I promise." It was silent for while after that. Your footfalls and Plurp's machinery echoed off the high walls.

 

You looked down at them and sighed. "Are you upset at me?" A long string of indignant noises followed this. Plurp was chastising you for turning them off and then taking so long to fix them. You patted their head at the end of their rant. "When this is all over, I'll treat you to some Cardin Sludge, how about that?" You stopped and looked at them expectantly. They made a sound similar to a huff, but let out a defeated beep. You laughed and continued walking. "Good. Now I've got to warn you; there are two Alteans on this ship."

 

They looked up at you. Even without a fleshy face, you could tell they were worried.

 

"There's no reason to be completely scared," You continued, wringing your hands. "They haven't hurt us any. They were polite enough to let me stay and eat their food and fix you and the ship." You meant for that to help Plurp, but you also felt that it was for self-reassurance too. You stopped when you realized you were there.

 

You stood anxiously in the doorway, Allura and Coran were facing away from you, speaking amongst themselves about what parts they needed next. You knew what Allura wanted to talk to you about, but you weren't sure if that sick feeling in your stomach was anticipation or fear. You supposed it was a nasty mix of both. Plurp nudged you forward. You looked to them and saw that your speech earlier had calmed them down; it was you who was all worked up now. They gave an impatient whir, loud enough for Allura and Coran to look for the source of the noise.

 

"A-ah! Princess," You cleared your throat. Why was it so hot in here all of a sudden? "You wanted to speak with me?"

 

"(y/n), yes, please," She motioned you forward. Coran decided then to take his leave. He paused next to you to give you a reassuring pat on the shoulder. You watched him leave, silently pleaded for him to stay. You turned to Allura slowly as soon as he disappeared. Plurp moved in front of you and closer to Allura, forcing you closer; you didn't want them so far away from you, and they knew that.

 

"Wh-what-" You swallowed thickly and coughed. "What did you wish to talk about?"

 

When she giggled, you raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but," She stifled more laughter. "You look like a child who's done something wrong." You opened your mouth, but shut it when she raised a hand to silence you, all laughter gone from her features. "I wanted to apologize for that night."

 

Plurp let out a questioning beep and you looked to them. "I'll tell you later," You turned back to Allura. "No, Princess, there's no need to apologize. It wasn't your fault; I was stressed and exhausted." Plurp gave out a motherly-sounding beep and you waved them off. Allura searched for honesty in your features. You hated people feeling bad about things beyond their control, even if they were Altean; it wasn't right. When she nodded in acceptance, you felt the tension leave the room.

 

"I must ask what happened, though," She continued, taking a seat on the podeum's ledge. To your surprise, four little creatures dashed to her side. "You seemed terribly frightened by something. Up until now, I thought I had caused it."

 

You sighed, taking a spot on her free side. "I'm... not entirely sure what happened," Plurp made their way in front of you, watching the creatures curiously. Their beady eyes followed your bot closely. "While I was talking with you, I kept having these... I don't know what to call them. Memory flashes??" She looked confused, but nodded anyways.

  
"What memories?" You swallowed, deciding to omit the memory of you being taken prisoner.

 

"There was one with one of my crew members, Ecklak," You caught your bottom lip between your teeth before continuing. "Another was more of a hallucination."

 

"Was it _that_ that scared you?" You nodded, watching the creatures move around Plurp excitedly. Plurp made series of joyful beeps and a shaky smile made its way onto your face.

 

"It seems your creatures made a new friend." You watched as Plurp began to chase the four of them. "What are they?"

 

"They're mice," Allura answers, the both of you chuckling as the creatures - the mice - chased your bot, Plurp letting out a good humored scream. You watched as they chased each other around, squeaking and beeping like never before. "They were in my pod when I woke up. We have this almost telepathic link now. Tell me; how did you manage to give one small robot so much life?"

 

You shrugged, leaning your arms on your legs. "Honestly, it was a complete accident. I was just rearranging the wires and accidentally sent an electric shock through them." You sighed and looked at the Princess. Her white hair was up in a bun and she was wearing her pink suit. You squinted as you tried to think of something to fill the sudden silence between you.

 

"Well, I'm glad you were able to create such a close friend," Allura smiled at you. You nodded.

 

"Me too." More silence fell over the two of you. You smiled when you realized how at ease you were at the moment. You managed to not only survive the conversation, but also have an actual, civilized conversation with _Altean royalty_. But the smile fell quickly when you remembered something from your last conversation. "Allura, I didn’t answer your question-"

 

Her hand on your upper arm silenced you. "There's no need. Keith told me.” A pause. “I'm sorry for the loss of your planet. Funny enough, I know exactly how that feels."

 

You smiled, but you know it didn't reach your eyes. "Coran explained to me. I'm glad you have each other." An air of understanding washed over both of you and, this time, your smiled was honest.

 

"I've only hear tales of what Demmoria was like," Allura leaned towards you, eyes shining with wonder. "Was it true about Therns impaling their farmers?"

 

You laughed. "Of all the stories to hear, you choose the one about Therns?" She nodded. "Therns? Really? Not... about our greatest heroes or myths? The Therns?" When she nodded again, you sighed in defeat. "If the Princess wants to hear about the Therns, then she'll hear about the Therns."

 

"Can we join too?" Lance asked. When you looked up, it seemed he had his whole team in tow.

 

You smiled as they all found spots in front of you and Allura, like younglings waiting to hear the elder's stories. "If that's what everyone wants to hear, sure." Slight movement caught your eye, and you looked up to see Coran leaning one shoulder on the doorway, looking fondly at the group. When you motioned for him to come over, everyone turned to look. "Come on, there's plenty of room."

 

"Yeah, Coran!" Pidge and Hunk separated to make room for him. "Come join story time!"

 

"Oh, I possibly couldn't; I've got a lot of things to do and prepare and-" He stopped, mid rejection, to the sad eyes Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were giving him. He sighed and made his way over. "Fine, you've twisted my arm. I can stay for a few doboshes."

 

"Alright, everyone settled?" When they finished getting comfortable, you smiled. "Good. Now; the Therns."


	12. Revelations

You stared at the bottom of the bunk above you. You were having a tough time sleeping. All that story telling, answering their questions, laughing along to the most ridiculous myths... You shifted at the pull in the center of your chest. You didn't miss Demmoria as much as you did in this moment. You thought of the fauna, the forestry, the smells, the people. You growled, sitting up and wiping vigorously at your eyes.

 

" _No more tears_ ," You looked up to see a faint image of your commander, Clyzote, and gasped. You scrambled off the bunk and stood, facing him.

 

"You're not real," You whisper. It was almost a hiss. "You, and the other... _hallucination_. You're not real."

 

" _Now, you say that, but,_ " He took a step forward and reached out to you. You shook your head, taking a frightened step back. He raised his four fingered hands in calming manner, reaching for your hand once more. You gasped at the shock of the cold touch, feeling the solidness of what you thought was a figment of your tired mind. " _At least let me prove myself before assuming things._ "

 

"B-but you can't- I mean, I'm not-" You were at a loss. You shook your head to try and clear your mudded thoughts. A single question raised from the unruly and wild thoughts. "How?"

 

Clyzote shrugged, looking around the small room. " _Like what you've done to the place,_ " He made his way to the cabin, waving you after him. " _Let's go for a walk. You've got some thinking to do. For starters; how you got here._ " With that, he turned tail and walked out. Plurp was safely tucked away on their charging station when you followed and all was quiet as you made your way out of the workshop. The phantom twirled a single finger, gesturing to the high walls. " _So what is this place anyways? Let's start there._ "

 

You jogged quietly to match his pace. "It's an Altean Castleship," You say, watching his face distort into disgust.

 

" _Altean? Geeze, Demo, I thought you were better than that,_ " Your lip quirked at the nickname you didn't know you missed. You were the only Demmorian in his crew, so the name kind of stuck. " _Tch, getting caught be Alteans. And what did you say? Castleship? That's not even a real thing._ "

 

"B-but I didn't get caught!" You yelled, then looked off to the side, lowering your voice. "Per say, anyway. They healed me; something Alteans _never_ do," Clyzote folded his hands behind his back, walking with uniformed purpose. "I crashed and was immediately sent to their healing unit."

 

Clyzote nodded. " _What makes these Alteans different?_ " It was almost like he knew the answer, but wanted you to figure it out yourself.

 

"Other than they didn't kill me right away?" You snorted, then mentally slapped yourself. "Allura and Coran, they're... Kind. And generous. And-"

 

" _Nothing like the Alteans that took our homes?_ " He interrupted. The comment stung, but you nodded anyways. " _What about Demmoria?_ " He stopped walking and turned towards you expectantly. You realized you had stopped right outside the Castleship's doors. You watched as a breeze fluttered the forestry.

 

"That's what's been bothering me the most..." You trail off, biting your bottom lip. "Coran told me that this race called the Galra destroyed Demmoria ten million years-"

 

" _Years?_ "

 

"Uh, planetary cycles." You waved him off, eyes following an invisible string along the details. "But I was there when it happened, twenty planetary cycles ago."

 

Clyzote nodded solemnly, voice soft. " _That made you ten, didn't it?"_ You didn't answer. He continued, using his regular, gruff, commanding tone. " _There's no such thing as a Glara anyways."_

 

"But that feels... _wrong_. Why would they make up an entire race blowing up my planet to cover for their own? There is only two of them Left. And I've seen pictures of the Galra. Everything they've said feels true, like it should be there." You looked to your commander, the answer finally dawning on you as you remembered your conversation with Hunk what felt like ages ago. "I'm not from here."

 

" _Of course you're not from here, kid,"_ Clyztoe grunted, trying to hide the fact that he was proud of you for finally understanding. It felt like he was goading you to say the actual words. " _This isn't Demmoria, and this isn't base Hathger. Those things don't exist in this... let's call it reality. So what does that mean?"_

 

You shot straight up out of your bed in a cold sweat. "This isn't my universe!" You shot up excitedly. "Clyzote, I figured it- Clyzote?" You looked around, finding yourself back on your ship. You walked to the door and peeked out. "C-Clyzote?" Aside from Plurp, you were completely alone. Tears pooled in your eyes and you crumpled to the floor. "I-it was all a dream." The tears spilled over and raced down your cheeks. You pulled your knees to your chest and hid your face from the world.

  


Plurp beeped awake, moving away from their charging station. When they saw you, they rushed over, beeping and chirping hurriedly. You peered at them through glossed over eyes.

 

"I-I was so close, Plurp," You cried. "H-he was there. I was there. I was right there!" You let out a pained yell, almost a howl, and there were rushed footsteps.

 

"(y/n)? Are you alright?" It was Lance. You looked up and he gasped at the wounded look on your face. He rushed over to you, pulling you close. "H-hey! It's okay, there's no need to cry, you're fine! Everything's fine," He rocked you gently, voice soft. He laid his chin on the top of your head and held you tight. "Everything's just fine." You hiccupped, burying yourself further into him.

 

"H-he was rig-right there, Lance," Your voice cracked, your hiccups breaking your words. "I fel-felt him!"

 

Lance's hand rubbed your back slowly, calmly. "I know, (y/n). Its going to be okay. Deep breaths." You did as he instructed, breathing with the rise and fall of his chest. His presence was calming, and his soft murmurs washed over you gently. "There, that's better, isn't it?"

 

You sighed, pulling away from him slightly and nodding. "Y-yeah, sorry." He gave you a soft smile.

 

"There's no need to be sorry. I've got plenty of brothers and sisters who cry all the time." You cocked your head to the side curiously.

 

"I didn't kn-know that," You grinned through your tearstained face. "I was won-wondering how you knew to be cal-calming."

 

"Hey!" He let out an indignant huff, which caused you to giggled. His pout faded into a smile and he chuckled. "I was coming to ask if you wanted to eat breakfast with us," Plurp bleeped to your right, causing you to reach out a hand and pat their head affectionately. "You too, bud. Though, I'm not sure what you eat. If you _can_ eat."

 

You stood, shocked to find Lance and put you in his lap without you noticing. "Pl-Plurp is a fan of thi-this sludge we found on a supply run."

 

"So is that a yes?" He stood too. Plurp made an indifferent noise and pushed passed you both. Lance pointed after your bot. "I'm taking that as a yes." You rolled your eyes and  followed him out of the ship and out the workshop. When you both caught up to Plurp, they were stopped in the middle of a cross section.

 

"Shouldn't go running off like that, bud," You giggled, gesturing to the correct direction. "Best to follow until you know your way around more." They whirred at you haughtily. "So you're mocking me now, is that it?" They let out a beeping laugh. "Dude, you have no idea where you're going and you know I'm right." You crossed your arms at their next bout of chirps. "Fine, whatever, you can get lost. See if I care. I'm only looking out for you."

 

"You can understand them?" Lance asked, failing to hide his amused smile.

 

You nodded. "When you've been around Plurp for as long as I have, you pick up on a few things."

 

"That reminds me of this one move; there's this pilot, right? And his copilot is this wookiee-"

 

"What's a wookiee?" You ask, but before you get an answer, there were loud cheers. You looked to see you three had made it to the mess hall and, surprisingly, everyone looked happy to see you.

 

"And she finally arrives!" Hunk cheered. You laughed, moving closer to the table. "There's an open spot next to Keith, if you want."

 

You walked over to Keith, who sent you a secret smile as you sat down. "Decided to join us finally?"

 

"You know, eating alone just wasn't my thing," You laughed at this, pushing the chair on your left back and helping Plurp into it. Keith raised a questioning eyebrow at this. "They like to feel tall." You both stifled some laughter as Plurp let out an biting whir. Suddenly a cup was set in front of you and you looked to see Hunk grinning wildly at you.

 

"For you, m'lady." You smile just as wide and accepted the drink. He eyed your face closely, smile falling slightly. "Hey, are you okay?"

 

You nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about it," You guessed your face wasn't fully back to normal yet. "Now, cue me in; what's got everyone so excited?"

 

"Allura and I just found the last piece we need to fix the ship and rocket ourselves off this planet and back into the fight!" Coran declared from his position behind Allura.

 

"The fight against the Galra, right?" You asked. Everyone nodded and you leaned forward a bit and chose your next words carefully. "So... how do we get this next piece?"

 

"Are you staying? Because that sounds a lot like you plan on staying," Hunk input excitedly, pointing at you.

 

You bit your lip in thought. It kind of _did_ sound like that. And with the new information from your dream, you figured that it would take longer to get home than you originally planned. "A-at least until I figure out a way to get home, yeah." You state shyly.

 

"You mean until _we_ figure out a way to get you home," Keith interjected. Everyone looked at him in shock, but you smiled. He grinned back at you.

 

"If you're willing, then yes," Everyone cheered once more at this. Plurp looked around excitedly and chirruped at breakneck speed. Everyone paused, unsure of what they even said. You laughed and rolled your eyes and began to translate. "Plurp wanted to know if you were willing to have them come along on some missions."

 

"Of course we'd be willing," Allura beamed. "It'd be rude not to. Friends stick close to each other, no matter their size or shape."

 

"Or race." You cut in. You and Allura nodded at each other in understanding. There was a moment of delightful silence as the meaningful words finally washed over the group.

 

Hunk raised his fork with a shout. "To friendship!"

 

You smiled as everyone cheered in unity, raising their utensils. "To friendship!"


	13. Back to the Mall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaah, sorry, sorry. I just can't let the mall episode go. As you can tell, its my favorite one and I just had to get the reader in the mix of it. Plus, a little soft is necessary with what the last chapter put everyone through. And I'm also sorry this is late! I got caught up in a bit of a bind this weekend with the family and time got away from me. I'll get on the next part as soon as I get this one up, promise! But besides that, here's chapter 13!

You stared at the hologram pictures that were displayed on the bridge. Everyone else gave a collective groan.

 

"The space mall? Again?" Hunk ran both hands down his face in distress.

 

"Don't you remember what happened last time we were there, Coran?" Keith asked, pointing at Lance. "We had to escape on that cow Lance bought from a Galran guard."

 

"Hey, she was free with purchase!" Lance defended himself, folding his arms. "Besides, from what I remember, we saved your sorry hide from being detained."

 

"What? That's not how that went at all!" Keith argued.

 

"Guys! Again, really?" Shiro gave them an exasperated look and they just glared at each other before separating to opposite sides of the room without being told. He looked at the orange haired Altean. "Coran, are you sure the last part is there?"

 

He nodded. "I'm absolutely positive. At the very least, I'm almost sure I saw it when I was looking for the Scultrite lenses."

 

"Almost sure," Shiro deadpanned. "Right. Well, it's worth a shot."

 

"Um, no, not really," Lance was shaking his head. "That guard actually thought we were space pirates."

 

"Ah-ha! So my disguises did work!" Coran beamed with pride, twisting the end of his mustache. You gave Hunk a confused look.

 

"I'll tell you later," You nodded and returned to the conversation.

 

"Yeah, no doubt our faces are plastered everywhere in the mall by now," Pidge stated. "We wouldn't get two feet without being spotted."

 

You scratched your chin in thought. "So you'd want people who haven't been there yet. Or better disguises." You say it almost absentmindedly, not really meaning to say anything at all. You jumped when you realized everyone was staring at you, face going red.

 

"I think you're on to something," Shiro smiled. "The thing is, only Coran and Allura truly know what the piece we need actually looks like."

 

Lance stepped closer to the group. "So we either need someone to distract the guard long enough to find the piece, or we play a massive game of hide and seek with him." You all thought about this.

 

"Alright," Shiro piped in, nodding. "Lance has the right idea. Three teams; one to distract the guard, the other two to find the piece. The more ground we cover, the more likely we are to find it." Everyone nodded. 

 

~~

 

_You stared at the arena in shock, shaking your head. "There's no way I'd ever be able to do that," You point at the image and look at Clyzote, who shrugged._

 

_"Sure you will, have some faith," He turned away and began to walk out of the room, knowing you would follow him. "Besides, we're pairing you up."_

 

_"Wait, what?" You yell, trotting after him quickly. "A partner?"_

 

_"Yup! Someone completely new! Isn't that generous of us?"_

 

_"Um, no?" You walked into the weapons station. Your eyes flitted hurriedly over each piece of weaponry. "I-I don't think pairing me up with some stranger is generous at all, actually! I think I work best with... Ecklak..." You trailed off and bit your bottom lip when Clyzote looked at you over his shoulder._

 

_"It doesn't matter who you think you work best with, Demo," His voice was low, letting you know this was the final say. "Its about getting to know your team and how you fit in with everyone." He waved away any last protest you may have had. "Besides, you've gotten too comfortable with Ecklak. May I remind you we are fighting in a revolution?"_

 

_His implication made you cringe away, and you nodded. You knew he was right, but somethings didn't work like that. You didn't work like that. At all._

 

_"So you're the famous Demmorian I've been hearing about," Your head snaps up and you look to see a lava red female, one hip jutted out to the side and a large bat looking weapon slung over her shoulder. She holds a hand out for you to shake. "Clordina, at your service. Partner."  
_

 

_"R-right," You pause before taking her hand. "Partner."_

 

~~

 

You folded your arms, walked beside Allura in the spacious mall. Her eyes were wide as she looked at everything and everyone.

 

"This is amazing!" She gushed. "I thought it was one of those nasty swap-moons. This is better than any of that." You rolled your eyes, but couldn't hold back a bemused smile.

 

"Well, I'm glad your enjoying your time here," You remark casually. You have really gotten used to talking with Allura now that the Pharleron in the room was dealt with. "Is this what all of your team exercises are like?"

 

"Not... really," She gazed at the floor, embarrassed, clutching one arm in the other. "It mostly consists of fighting the Galra and taking down their bases. Its a joint effort that everyone gets to participate in."

 

"How often do you get to participate?" You give her a knowing look when she stared at you in shock. "The paladins seem to be the ones to fight on the front lines; I figure someone stays behind and pulls the strings, so to speak."

 

She glances away sheepishly before spotting a shop and walking towards it. You follow her in and take a glance around. It was a lovely jewelry shop; not somewhere you could find a ship part. Still, you peek around for anything of interest. You find none, and go to leave but remember Allura walked in with you. You turn and find her gazing into a display case. You go and stand next to her and peer in as well. Inside were lines of necklaces, all glittering and dazzling with jewels of all kinds of colors and sizes.

 

"Do you see something you like, ladies?" You look up to see the shopkeeper, a refined looking alien, looking over their small bifocals at you both.

 

You shake your head. "I don't, but I think she-" You point at Allura, who's gazing fondly at one of the pieces. "-does."

 

They turn their attention to the Princess with a questioning air. "What can I help you with, dear? I can take one out if you wish to try it on," They unlock a compartment and hold out a necklace that looked more like a web that was dotted in gleaming red and blue gems. "This is brand new, never before seen in this shop. You'd look extremely... ravishing."

 

Allura jumps slightly, startled out of her revere. But she points to the very corner of the display case. "May I try that one, please?" The alien huffs slightly, but pulls the necklace out all the same. It was a simple silver chain with just a small, almost translucent, purple jewel. Gently, she takes it out of the shopkeeper's hands and latches it around her neck herself. "Stunning."

 

"Surely you would rather have one of these more beautiful pieces?" They urged. "We have more valuable and gorgeous necklaces you would be interested in." Allura didn't respond, softly tracing the chain and studying her reflection.

 

"No, I think she's fine with this one," You say, smiling at the shopkeeper, glancing at the still-entranced Princess. "How much?"

 

They huffed. "Honestly? You can have it," They upturned their snout and waved away... something. "It has been mucking up my shelf of beautiful artwork and just needs to go. Simple as that. If I can't persuade you with anything else, take that... _garbage_... and leave." Then they turned tail- literally -and left you at the display. You shrugged and nudged Allura away from the display case.

 

"Congratulations, you got something sparkly," You giggle. "Hey, maybe if you get interested in something the next shopkeeper hates, maybe they'll give that to us for free too." You laugh at this, Allura joining in soon after. You both laugh until it subsides and a comfortable silence ensues. You take a glance at her then into all the shops around you. "Why that one? You could have literally chosen anything else, something more... fitting for someone of your title."

 

"I don't know what you mean," Allura turns to you, gently grasping the purple gem. "Something about it was calling out to me." You nod, eyes sweeping over what looked to be a crack in the wall. You stall, feeling a pull towards it.

 

"I know what you mean," You say softly, distractedly, before starting in that direction. It was almost hidden; everyone that walked by ignored it completely. A back spot in between two bright lights. But your eyes didn't miss it all.

 

"What is this place?" Allura had follow you into the small shop, picking up something and watching the dust cloud as she wiped it. "Dusty..."

 

"I recognize some of these things," You say, picking up a sword and gasping in awe. "This is the Blade of Fortear. Legend says that it glows when its rightful owner wields it in battle. And this!" You rush to another side of the shop and unearthing the technology.

 

"It looks like one of the castle's holoscreens." Allura states simply. You shake your head as you examine it.

 

"Its not. This is an original SXCD screen! They stopped manufacturing these when I was maybe, um, six planetary years old?"

 

"How would you know that?" Allura asked, taking the screen from you and turning it over. "

 

"Some of this junk-"

 

"Hey!" You and Allura both jump at the new voice. An old female walked- or hobbled -out from behind a large stack of Bolar Boosters. "This isn't junk! Each item holds invaluable stories of bloodshed, victory, and death!" You gave her a bored expression, unfazed by her dramatics.

 

"I understand the sword," Allura holds up the SXCD screen. "But this?"

 

"The old woman stared and answered quickly. "It was a major component in a battleship that crashed in a dead zone."

 

"No it wasn't," You roll your eyes and took the screen. "This is a fourth edition learning device for school-younglings. I was lucky enough to get the fifth edition." The old woman squinted at you as she slowly made her way to a stool. Your eyes widened and you pointed at it. "Is that the Exlonian stool? I've only ever seen pictures!" You turn to Allura. "They were said to be the seat of the gods. Of course, when they were found, they were put in museums, but this... that's the real deal!"

 

The old woman jutted her chin at you. "How come you know so much about my stuff?" Your eyes widened and you gaped.

 

"The things I know are De-Demmorian." You say indefinitely.

 

"Look, ma'am," Allura interjected, placing a hand on your shoulder; she must have sensed your uneasiness. "We're looking for a specific part and don't have very much time. Do you think you can help up?"

 

She hummed, running a hand through her thick purple hair. "Depends. What kind of part are you looking for?" Allura's face lit up as she began describing what it was. Basically what you needed was a piece that could join two pipes from the inside of both and that could withstand the hear of the rockey boosters. "T think I've got one of those lying around here someplace. But its going to cost you."

 

You began to sweat. "W-we don't have much," You glanced at Allura. She seemed a bit nervous too.

 

"Relax, it won't cost you a single GAC," She pulled out an envelope and the part, holding them out to you both. "I need you to deliver this message for me." She shakes them impatiently and you grab them. You pass Allura the part and hold the message in both hands, looking over the foreign writing. 

 

"Who does it go to?" You look up to see her hobbling behind the boosters again.

 

"You'll know," She disappears and when you blink, you and Allura are standing outside facing a wall. You turn around wildly, looking for the shop.

 

"What was that all about?" Allura asks softly, glancing around with you.

 

"Doesn't matter," You reply, suppressing the shivers. "We've got the part, let's find the others and get out of here."

 

"I don't think that will be a problem," She starts, pointing in shock. When you look, you see Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith all piled up on some kind of vehicle driving towards you guys. You both start running beside them as they get closer.

 

"More space pirates!" You look over your shoulder to see a rather over weight fellow close behind on a vehicle of his own. "You guys will be so caught when I catch you!"

 

"Hop on!" Hunk and Pidge pull you up next to them, Keith helping Allura. "Did you get the part?"

 

"And a few other things," You waved the letter. "Let's get out of here."


	14. A Way Home?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, second upload of this week! I know it's late... Oops... Also, I am going on a short trip out of town and won't be near enough internet to upload for next week. But! I will be in town towards the end of the week, so I will work on the next few chapters while away, then upload them when I get back! Foolproof plan! Yeet! Enjoy another dose of sadness. Its not much, but still...

You handed Hunk another tool. You were having trouble with your own ship and asked if he could help. Like always, he had mixed you another drink before he came down. Now he was explaining what he was doing so you could fix it on your own if you ever needed to. 

 

"And then you connect these two together... and... done!" He turned and smiled at you.

 

"Thanks Hunk," You scratch the top of your head. "I probably never would have figured that out. Even with Plurp's help." You laugh at the indignant whine. "You're a _piloting_ bot, bud, not a repair one. Don't take it personal."

 

Hunk chuckles at that. "Yeah, no problem," He eyed you carefully as he wiped the grease from his hands. "How're you holding up? Figure out a way to get home yet?"

 

You sigh, thinking about the dream you had about Clyzote. "I'm... fine. Honestly. And I fear that home is a lot farther than we initially thought." He cocks an eyebrow at you.

 

"What do you mean? Like, it's farther away in the galaxy? Because we can get you there, when the ship's repaired, no problem."

 

"It's not that, Hunk," Your voice is hoarse. You clear it to give you a little more time. You're not sure if saying it out loud would permanently cement your stay. After a slight goading look from him, you look to your feet. "I think I'm from an alternate reality."

 

Your statement was met with silence. You raised your head and flinched from his confused expression. "An alternate... reality?" You nodded and he hummed, eyes trailing invisible details. "That-that makes some sense. It clears a lot of things up, actually." You yelp when he suddenly grabbed your arm and pulled you out of the room. Plurp was just barely able to catch up with you two.

 

"H-Hunk! Where are we going?" You stumbled along behind him. "Hunk!"

 

"Pidge! Pidge?" He stopped suddenly, causing you to knock into him and push both of you to the floor. The door in front of you opened, revealing a very tired looking and very confused Pidge. 

 

"Why are you on the floor?" Hunk jumped up and gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

 

"Alternate realities!" He laughed and Pidge shot you a raised eyebrow. You stepped forward and gently peeled Hunk off of her.

 

"I had this dream a while back which gave me a, um, revelation almost," You paused, glancing at Hunk. He looked like he was about to explode. You steadied your nerves and continued slowly. "I think I'm from an alternate reality." It was silent once more. Pidge had donned a thoughtful expression before cracking a smile.

 

"No way," You nodded. "You're serious?" You nodded again. "You can't be."

 

"Think about it Pidge!" Hunk exclaimed, making you jumped. "It makes sense; the Alteans, not knowing the Galra-"

 

"The timing," You cut in softly.

 

"The timing!" Hunk cried, laughter woven into his words. "This-this-this is amazing! Slav was right!"

 

"Slav?"

 

Thhey both turned to you, almost like they forgot you were there. "He was this super smart alien we had to break out of a Galra prison." Pidge answered. "He helped us build a teleduv. He wouldn't stop going on about alternate realities and some such."

 

You nodded, feeling the hope raise within you. "So... would he be the only one to help me find a way back?" Silence. Hunk and Pidge fidgeted awkwardly. "What?"

 

"Um," Hunk began playing with his fingers. "He, uh- well-"

 

"He accidentally jettisoned himself into space," Pidge cut in. "We don't know where he went." Your hope crashed with that one statement. "Sorry."

 

"That's... that's fine, really," You tried to smile, to let them know you would be okay, but it broke and fell.

 

"You're homesick, aren't you?" Hunk asked softly. 

 

"Aren't we all," You cross your arms over your chest, shrinking into yourself as much as you could. "A-and I'm not one to talk much. I mean, you guys were basically taken by robots, so-so what happened to me can't compare at all!" Everything fell silent, your shrill voice echoed off the walls uncomfortably. Plurp nudged you softly and you rested your hand on his metal plated head. "I'm-I'm sorry guys. That wasn't... professional at all."

 

"I think I have a way to find him." Pidge said softly.

 

"Really?"

 

She nodded, waving you and Hunk inside the room. "Yeah. I've been working on a way to find Matt. Granted, I haven't gotten very far, I'm pretty sure it could find Slav easy." You nodded as you looked around. There was a holoscreen in the middle of the room with a large chair situated right in front of it. The only source of light was the soft glow of the holoscreen.

 

"Who's Matt?" Pidge stalled a bit before sitting the rest of the way in the chair.

 

"My brother," She typed a few things and numerous images and foreign words popped onto the screen. "He was taken by the Galra, along with Shiro and my dad."

 

"I... didn't know you had a brother," You state.

 

"Yeah, she looks just like him," Hunk cut in, gesturing to where Pidge was typing. There rested a picture of someone who looked a lot like Pidge in orange with a girl standing next to them in a purple dress. "Pidge is the one in the dress, by the way."

 

You stared in shock. "You cut off your hair!" She nodded, still typing away. "On Demmoria, the length of your hair showed where on the social spectrum you were; the wealthy kept their hair long while the military kept it cut short. Almost as short as yours or Hunk's, actually." You smiled. "You're already Demmoria military!"

 

"What about your hair?" Hunk asked.

 

"I hadn't yet established my place in society," You answer truthfully. "I was... too young. Before the whole... yeah."

 

"Before wha-" Hunk stopped himself. "Oh. Sorry." You shook your head, waving off his apology.

 

After a moment of silence and a little mental debate, you pulled the picture of your smiling family out of your pocket. You went to speak, stopped, then took a breath. You fingered the creases gingerly before holding it out for her to see. "This is my family; my father, mother, and brother." You paused, but continued softly. "It seems we both lost someone to the enemy."

 

She had stopped typing to study the photo. Slowly, she reached up to grip it. Pidge examined it closer, never speaking, before handing it back to you. "It seems we did." You smiled gently as you placed the photo back in your pocket. A loud beep caused everyone to jump, ruining the quiet moment.

 

"Is that... him?"


	15. One Step Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know; kind of a short chapter, but for some reason I couldn't stop sleeping most of the trip. So writing was put on the back burner the past few days. I apologize for the lateness and the shortness of this chapter. Thank you, though, everyone for reading, commenting- everything. It means so much to know people like my writing and it makes me proud to call myself a writer. You're all so amazing and I don't think I could be thankful enough! Enjoy chapter 15!!

You stared in surprise. What even was he? He almost looked like a furry noodle with arms and a tight necked shirt. "A-are you sure that's Slav?"

 

Both Pidge and Hunk nodded. "Yup. And, lucky us, he's close. Just a varga away."

 

"We should tell Shiro," Hunk said, edging towards the door. "This seems like something he should know about."

 

You nodded. "Maybe Allura and Coran too?" Plurp beeped in agreement.

 

Pidge grunted as she hopped out of the chair. "And the rest of the paladins." With that, the four of you exited the room and made your way down the hallway silently. Your eyes swept over your companions. They were all so nice to you, ever since the beginning. They never failed to make you smile; even Keith would stop by for conversation once in a while. Mainly to just relax. He had told you earlier that, while he does train to use up any excess stress, having an intellectual conversation was nice every now and again. And it was nice. Allura and Coran stopped by more often than they had previously. You could honestly say you found six new friends. The thought made you smile.

 

"What did you mean by timing?" Pidge jostled you out of your thoughts, and you hummed in confusion; it was a vague question. "Earlier, you mentioned that the timing of... something... made you realize you weren't in your reality."

 

Plurp beeped along happily, just within your reach if you needed them. "When Coran was helping me fix Plurp, he told me about what happened," You started, thinking back to the conversation. "About between the Galra and the Ateans. He told me _this_ revolution, your revolution, began ten million years ago."

 

"So?"

 

"So," You continued, scratching your forehead. "I was there when Demmoria was destroyed. That was _twenty_ planetary cycles ago, not ten million. My revolution began shortly thereafter."

 

Pidge nodded. "The timeline is off," You tapped your nose, signaling she was right. "I suppose that makes sense." Everything fell silent once more as you continued walking. Your footsteps harshly echoed off the walls. You weren't entirely sure where all four of you were headed, but you walked along them happily, just glad to have found friends in a new environment.

 

"My commander, Clyzote, always told me I could make friends wherever I went," You say softly, not really speaking to anyone in particular. "Neither of us accounted for me being in a completely different universe, though. But the statement still stands." You turn to Pidge and Hunk and smile. They returned with warm grins of their own and the atmosphere lightened some more. "Where are we going?"

 

"Training room," Hunk says as you all round a corner. Sure enough, you hear metal clanking and grunts. You peer around the door frame. You spotted Shiro instantly, his figure a black spot in a sea of white. Almost in slow motion, a training bot jabbed its weapon at him to which he gracefully dodged and grabbed the weapon, bringing a purple glowing object up and through the bot's face. Your eyes widened in shock as it fell to the floor with a rough smack. That object wasn't just a simple weapon. You stared mutely as Shiro stopped the training program and made his way to you guys.

 

"Your hand," You trail off, dumb founded. You pointed dumbly at it and gave him a questioning look. "What?" You barely noticed Plurp wandering off to the fallen training bot.

 

He shifted, suppressing a grin at your expense. "Its kind of a long story. But I guess you could say it is quite _handy_ when fighting." When Pidge and Hunk groaned in exasperation and slammed their hands to their faces, he couldn't hold back his smile. You looked to Plurp and shrugged; neither of you understood why they were groaning. "Anyways, what can I do for you guys? Is the Castleship ready to fly yet?"

 

"We haven't heard anything about it actually," Pidge answered, shaking her head. "We had something come up and we kinda need to re-find Slav." You watched as Shiro's eye twitched a bit at the name, but his posture didn't show any other signs of irritation.

 

"Again? Why?" You swallowed thickly and shyly raised your hand. He raised an eyebrow at you.

 

"I, uh, kinda need him to get home, I think," You clasped your hands together and looked to your feet. "I'm not from this universe."

 

"You mean..." Shiro trailed off, stared for a second, then wiped his flesh hand over his face. "I don't know where Slav is, but if we can locate him-"

 

"Already did." Pidge interrupted, looking proud of herself. "The only thing we have to do is go get him." Shiro eyed you three skeptically before sighing.

 

"Alright, we'll go talk to Allura and Coran and sort all of this out," He placed a hand on your shoulder. "We'll help you however we can." He was wearing his fatherly expression again, and you couldn't help the soft smile forming on your lips. He smiled too, motioning for Hunk to lead the way to the Princess. You followed behind them, stopped, then turned back into the room. 

 

"Plurp, c'mon," You smiled when they jerked to look at you, and watched as they rushed out of the door in front of you. You turn back and find Hunk and Pidge halfway down the hallway, Plurp following closely behind them, and Shiro waiting for you. You shrug and jog to catch up to the group. "I don't know what to do with them half the time." You and Shiro chuckled some as you watched Plurp swerve between the green and yellow paladins happily.

 

"I'm glad they're back up and running." You nodded in agreement. "What brought on your sudden realization?" You rubbed the back of your neck in embarrassment.

 

"It was... an interesting way, I'll tell you that," He raised his eyebrows at you and you sighed. "It was a dream, okay? I was talking to my commander-"

 

"Clyzote, right?"

 

You nodded. "- and he was asking me all these questions and every answer I gave painted the actual answer." Shiro hummed in thought.

 

"That's good," He mused. "That brings us one step closer to getting you home." You felt that familiar spark of hope ignite within you, and you beamed up at him.

 

"I suppose it does," You looked forward in determination. "One step closer."


	16. Failed Attempt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, bear with me here; I kinda wanted to change things up a bit. Plus dramatics and stuff. It helps. So sorry if any of you don't like it or think that its lazy writing. Its a rough business. XD  
> Have fun with chapter 16!! Also, I added some more tags because of this chapter.

You adjusted your sweaty grip on the pod's controls. You cleared your throat, eyes flickering anxiously over the fleet. You didn't necessarily mean to steal one of their shuttles, but... you needed Slav.

 

_"I'm sorry (y/n)," Hunk apologized over the video feed. "We can't fight the Galra all by ourselves." You nodded numbly, grateful to be standing behind Pidge and out of view of the video; you knew they would feel guilty for smashing your hopes._

 

_"We'll go back, make a plan, then get Slav," The green paladin spoke. "It's a whole patience thing with them. We'll get Slav back, we promise."_

 

"Yeah," You rasp to yourself, hitting the cloaking mechanism on the shuttle. "Promise." Slowly, you guided the stolen pod through the Galra fleet, naigating towards the larger ship directly in the middle of the mess. Your heart pounded in your ears as you brought the ship directly under the larger one, adjusting your helmet after stopping. 

 

You opened the hatch and worked on creating an opening. Once done, you eased inside, artificial gravity setting in as soon as you closed off your entrance. You rubbed your palms on your thighs as you glanced about you. From previous experience, you recognized this as a vent almost immediately. Although, it did surprise you that you could fully stand in it. You shrugged; details.

 

You listened carefully, slowing your breathing to silent pants. Heavy metallic footsteps passed by every so often. You decided to just go left and hope for the best. You kept your footfalls light and tried your best to avoid any openings the Galra could see through.You paused in your spot, breathing stopping all together. There were different sounding footsteps; not metal on metal like all the others.

 

"There were reports of the lions within range," A gruff voice was saying. "But they all say they left without attacking."

 

"Do you have any idea where they came from? Or where they left to?" A superior voice asked.

 

"No, sir,"

 

"Which lions did you say?"

 

"The yellow and green ones, sir," So they had spotted you guys. But they didn't attack? "We've put more soldiers on defense and expanded the perimeter in case and or all of them return."

 

"Good. I feel Zarkon would be less than pleased if they came back. Especially if they take our prisoner-"

 

"The lions were here? That means there's a four point six eight five four four three-"

 

"- Even if he is annoying." It was almost a growl. Even with the two guards standing within spitting distance, you couldn't help your elation. You stepped closer to hear better, foot accidentally colliding with the side harshly. You felt every hair on your body stand on end as their heads snapped to where you were hidden. Fast footsteps fell down the hallway to where everything was at a stand still.

 

"Sir! There's been a breach! We found a cloaked shuttle on the underside of the ship."

 

Your heart stopped when you heard them power up their weapons. Then it completely dropped when a low growl reached your ears. "Then we'll eliminate the breach."

 

*****

 

Plurp basically flew down the hallways, beeping frantically. (y/n)- their number one caretaker -was missing. They had searched everywhere; the bunks, the ship, all the places they knew she'd be. When they couldn't find their pilot, Plurp flew right into panic mode. they rushed to the next best place; the dining hall. If they had lungs, they'd be heaving with loss of breath and panic. They yellow one- Hunk -turned to look at Plurp.

 

"Oh, hey bud. What's up?" He walked up, then glanced up and down the hallway they came from. "No (y/n)? You just running an errand for her?"

 

Plurp gave a negative whir before jumping into a frenzied and anxious string of bleeps. When they got no response fro Hunk, they gave a hurried sigh and rushed down the hallway. They stumbled upon Pidge and felt what (y/n) described as relief. They pulled up to Pidge’s side and tried to get her attention. 

 

“Gimme a minute Plurp,” She mumbled, eyes never leaving her work. “Just have to finish this last thing.” Plurp’s patience was running on low. Did no one care to notice their friend was missing?

 

Giving a long string of noises that sounded vaguely vulgar, they rushed to find another paladin that would listen. Somehow they found themselves in the hangar with the lions. 

 

Lions!

 

There were no people, but (y/n) had explained that the lions had this mental connection with their respective pilots. Right now, Plurp was hoping you were right. Quickly, they decided to position themselves in front of the nearest lion, Blue, and shrieked. 

 

The lion’s eyes flashed yellow before its lean metallic body laid down to their level, a low growl rumbling throughout the room. Plurp just about reached Blue’s nose and had to move back slightly to look into the yellow eyes. 

 

Plurp relayed the fact that his caretaker was missing and that no one seemed to notice. Blue responded in a soothing growl and went silent. Shortly after, Lance dashed into the room, panting. Once he regained some breath, he gazed at Plurp. 

 

“Do you know where she went?” A negative whir. “Do you know who would know?” A positive and hopeful beep. “Alright; take me to them.”

 

*****

 

You struggled against the restraints, eyes wide and hear pounding. Every fiber in your being was in panic mode; get out, get out, get away, get out.

 

"I won't go!" You screamed, throwing your weight around uselessly. The guard, unresponsive, just hauled you down the corridor. "Let me go!" Suddenly the hallway opened up to a large room. A looming figure sat, watching as the guard forced you to your knees and clasped your shoulder painfully.

 

"Emperor Zarkon," The graveled voice behind you boomed. "We found the intruder. We believe her to be working with Voltron." The name seemed incredibly foreign to you, you only hearing it a few times before. It stirred this person from their seat, however. You took vague notice of a cloaked figure half hidden behind the throne. Zarkon, you guessed, shook the ground with every step. He stopped directly in front of you. 

 

"I do not recognize her," His voice was low and he talked slowly, but it held a malice you've never heard before. "Why should I believe her to be with Voltron and not some resistance troupe?"

 

"We found the shuttle she traveled in, sire," Your face was hard set and you continued to struggled against your bonds. "It was Altean."

 

Zarkon's glowing eyes never left your own. "Tell me, child," You growled. "Where is Voltron?"

 

"How should I know?" You spat. "I don't even know who that is." His frown deepened, the scar on his face becoming more pronounced.

 

"How did you attain an Altean shuttle?"

 

"Scrap yard." You hear was pounding and you felt sick, but continued to stare down Zarkon.

 

"I don't believe you," He finally broke eye contact to look at the guard still clamped on your shoulder. "If she is not willing to answer my questions truthfully, maybe Hagar can persuade her." You struggled more at his words, the guard pulling you to your feet. "I must know where they are keeping the Black Lion."

 

"Of course, sire," This new voice was stringy and scratchy, just below the sound of metal scraping on metal. You screamed and kicked in protest as you were guided down the hallway. The hand never left your shoulder, nails digging through your shirt and into your skin. Every time you blinked, the scenery changed into the wrecked images of Demmoria. Wall lights changed to burning buildings. Galra sentries turned into Altean soldiers. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes as you continued to get away.

 

"N-no!" Your panicked sob echoed throughout the hallway as you were led to a room; there was a table in the middle of the room. "No! St-stop! Let me go!"


	17. Heartbreak to Heartwarming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Aaaah, chapter 17!! Just a little heads up, I also added another tag because of this chapter. And while the beginning is a little lacking, I tried to make up for it the best I could in the end. Also, there hasn't been many moments with Coran, so.... Yeah! Enjoy!

An alarm.

 

Explosions.

 

Frenzied talking. "(Y/n)?" Soothing arms gripping you gently. "It's all right. You're going to be okay." Lance?

 

More explosions.

 

Chanting. "Won't talk... won't talk... my friends..." Was that you?

 

Yelling. "Pidge?"

 

"Got him!"

 

"Ah! I knew this would happen!" Who was that?

 

"-The lions!"

 

More explosions.

 

"C'mon (y/n)! Stay awake!" Were you even awake to begin with?

 

~~

 

_You were pushed to the ground. Stumbling to get up, you apologized profusely. You were in the way, after all, and very lost. You had just landed and it was severely crowded._

 

_"Hey, kid, its no big problem." You recognized this man when you saw his face. The first time you saw him, his face was set like stone, emotionless as he protected you and the other prisoners. He was lean, but you knew first hand the hidden strength in his form. "Well, no need to look so awestruck, where're you going?"_

 

_"I-I, uh," You stuttered, hugging your things tightly to your chest. "I, um, I have no idea." You hid your face in embarrassment, not believing the words that come out of your mouth next. "Can you help me again?"_

 

_"Again?" Confusion crossed his features before there was a flash of recognition. "Oh! You're that girl I... Yeah, no, c'mere kid. I'll help you get settled in."_

 

_You smiled up at him, grateful for the help and kindness in his eyes."Thanks."_

 

_"No problem," He placed a gentle hand on your shoulder and began to lead you away. "What's your name, kid?"_

 

_"(y/n)." You glance away for a second. "What's yours?"_

 

_"Ecklak."_

 

_~~_

 

You woke up slowly. And chilled. You staggered dangerously, but was steadied by warm hands on the small of your back and forearm. You blinked away the sudden brightness of the room and glanced around. Allura and the paladins were scattered in front of you. You glanced to your left to see Coran was the one holding you up. Plurp was stationed right in front of you. You cleared your throat, still squinting. 

 

"H-hey guys." A wave of relief washed over the room and everyone relaxed, smiling as they surrounded you. Everyone was talking animatedly at you, welcoming you back from your sleep. They explained how Plurp had communicated with Blue to get everyone's attention. That's how they found out you were missing and followed Pidge and Hunk to the Galra ship. 

 

"Plurp never left your side, the little bugger," Coran laughed, patting the bot's head. "Would barely let me check the pod." You chuckled at this. Coran had let you go and you now stood on your own, although a bit wobbly still.

 

You looked up to see Keith, still standing on his own, arms crossed and expression set. "What were you thinking?"

 

The single question silenced everyone in the room as they turned to look at him. "I was-"

 

"-Thinking about yourself?" You swallowed thickly, shaken by the accusatory tone in his voice. "You left and didn't tell anyone, (y/n), and then risked everyone's lives just to get you and Slav back." You didn't say anything, choosing to bravely stare him in the eye. They were as cold as his voice right now, and you found yourself missing the secretive mirth they usually held. "They knew we were coming to get you. They were- they were prepared! You put everyone's lives on the line without even thinking twice about it."

 

"Keith-" Shiro started, giving Keith a warning look. 

 

"I-I..." You tried to stop the wavering in your voice. "I didn't mean to-to get caught." You turned to the floor and glared at your feet. "It was a mistake, I know- a mistake to go alone, a mistake not to tell anyone-"

 

You could hear him take another breath to go at you again, but Coran stepped in front of you. "Keith, this can wait. You've already ripped into her enough at the moment. Right now, she needs to rest a little more." There was pregnant pause before Keith's footsteps stomped out of the room. You all waited as they faded and disappeared into the castle somewhere. When they were gone, you dashed out of the room as well, too embarrassed and ashamed to face your friends right now. They called after you, but no one followed. Except for Plurp. You ran until you couldn't run anymore, and found yourself in the piloting chair of your ship. You sat there, tears racing down your cheeks as you let Keith's words sink in.

 

"Wh-what was I thinking?" You spat at yourself. "I-I almost go-got everyone... by the st-stars!" You sobbed, bringing your knees to your chest, snot and tears running down your face. You were selfish, cocky. Sure, you had previous experience breaking out prisoners, but you were always with a team, with back up. Some soft beeping brought your head from your knees. Plurp was directly in front of you, wondering if you were okay.

 

Your response was immediate. "Am I ever?" You chuckle dryly as you hiccuped. You rubbed furiously at the wetness on your face, hoping to get rid of any evidence you were upset. But it didn't matter; Plurp knew you better than that.

 

They bleeped at you again. "No... just stupidity." Some whirs. "Doesn't matter if I can fix a ship or a robot or anything else, Plurp! I was stupid and idiotic and just-just-"

 

"Wreckless?" You whipped your head around at the voice. Coran stood there in the mouth of the cockpit. "Worried? Anxious to get back home?"

 

You settled down, trying to bury your shame along with the rest of your physical being. "All of those things. Along with some very not-pleasant words."

 

Coran tuts, stepping in further. While you were able to clean up a majority of your ship, you still had random parts and scraps strewn about. He glanced around the cockpit when he stops right of the pilot's chair. "I understand. Although, I will say diving headfirst into a Galra is a bit of a backwards way to get home." He gave you a heartfelt smile but dropped it when you didn't meet his eyes. "It was extremely dangerous to go out on your own and not tell us."

 

"It was," You agree, standing and turning away from Coran before he could see more tears fall. "I had everything under control until... Until I made a mistake."

 

"And at what cost?" You wince at the soft words, thinking back to the table. Everything was a painful blur. The shocks, the screaming, the constant questions... "The least we can say is that you and Slav and the paladins came back safely."

 

"I didn't..." You brought up a hand to hold back more sobs. Your thoughts were running marathons behind your eyes, your mouth too slow to catch one and speak. You cleared your throat and mind before choosing the safest option. "Its late, Coran. Thank you for stopping by, but I'm fine now."

 

It was quiet. You were staring at your feet when another pair stepped in view. His hand on your shoulder made you look up. "We are your friends, (y/n). While you may have acted brashly, we are still going to help you when you need it." Coran squeezed your shoulder before pulling you into a much needed and very warm hug. "Next time bring one or two of us with you? We've become so close for you to just disappear on us again."

 

You buried your face in his chest, lost in his welcoming touch. "I won't, Coran." You sighed, hugging just a tad bit tighter. "I promise."


	18. The Letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness guys!! I'm so sorry for falling behind on this! Everything just happened at once and I had to file through all that business before I could even think about writing this chapter. I'm sorry about that and hope this makes up for at least a quarter of it. Anyways; enjoy!!

You spent the next few days in the workshop. You didn't think you could face the team after what you did. You asked Coran to tell them to leave you alone for the time being. Licking your wounds and all that, is what you told him. You sat in the piloting ship, looking down at the letter. You had forgotten all about it between fixing your ship and failing at a prison break. It was a little crumpled, probably because its been in your coat pocket for a while. Plurp had gone to their charging station for the night, but not before chastising you for not sleeping. You've been having trouble lately.

 

"What's that?" You yelped at the voice and sprang to your feet, twisting to see the owner. Shiro was standing there, arms crossed and giving you a curious look.

 

"Wh-what-" You coughed, trying to brush off your embarrassment. "What are you doing here?" Your voice was slightly hoarse from lack of use. There wasn't much talking between you and Plurp, just you asking for certain tools.

 

"I came to tell you I'm going out. I was wondering if you'd like to join me," He uncrossed his arms and took a step forward. "You've been cooped up in here for a while; I figured some fresh air will make you feel better."

 

You scoffed, unceremoniously shoving the letter into your pocket. "I'm fine, thank you,"

 

"No you're not," Shiro sighed as he stepped just within reach. "(y/n)-"

 

"Don't," You growl. "I don't need another lecture, or a kind word, or anything. I just need to get out of this forsaken reality and back home." Your voice raised at the end of your tirade as you scowled at the man in front of you. You let your gaze fall to the floor. "I-I just want to go home," Shiro was silent, not helping your racing thoughts. You were so close. Almost home.

 

"I understand," He started slowly. You winced at his voice, but looked up anyway. He had donned a thoughtful and faraway expression. "I think we all do. I don't think you'd find a more understanding group."

 

You squinted slightly. "Except for the soldiers in my fight."

 

"Yeah, maybe," Shiro's gaze fell a bit, but it came back just as strong. "I was talking to Slav earlier; he needs some parts for- what did he call it... -a transdimensional portal?"

 

You nodded thoughtfully. So close... "Alright. I'll help. When do we leave?" Shiro smiled and turned to exit the ship.

 

"Now."

 

"What?" You cried, rushing after him. You squinted when you fully stepped out of the ship. Your eyes fell on the workbench as you walked past; every free space was taken by cups. You winced; Hunk. You grabbed the note hanging off of a cup and stuffed it in your pocket. Shiro gave you the side eye and you shrugged. "For the ride."

 

The whole walk to the Lion Bay was silent, save for the echoes of footsteps. You stared at your feet as you traversed the hallways. What if you accidentally walked into one of the other paladins? Or Keith? You shrunk farther into yourself at the thought, his words echoing in your mind. You don't think he would look at you the same way again. It was... heartbreaking to think. You had gotten one step closer to getting home, but at what cost? The loss of a friend? Was it worth it?

 

Shiro stopped in front of you, and you ran directly into his back. He didn't budge but you staggered back some. "We're here," He chuckled. You looked up at the Black lion in awe; every time you see them you can't help but be struck by their amazing size. You gulped, and slowly looked over to the Red lion.

 

"O-one second," You murmur. Shiro nodded and continued to board his lion. You jogged over to Red, and, shakily, placed a tentative hand on a cold metal claw. "I-I know... that Keith is still probably mad at me... And I just want to apologize for being selfish... and for putting everyone in danger," You craned your neck to look into Red's dim eyes. "Could you- I don't think he'd want to see me, at least for a long while -could you tell him that? That I'm sorry?" When nothing happened, you grimaced and nodded in understanding. You pulled away slowly, taking a few steps back before turning around fully and making your way back to Shiro. About halfway there, you felt a low rumble shake through you legs and looked back in time for Red's eyes to flash yellow and dim once more. You smiled a bit before jogging the rest of the way.

 

"All good?" He asked, pulling on his helmet and starting up his lion. You nodded, choosing to stay silent as you put on your own. As Shiro guided the Black lion away from the Castleship, you silently took out the note Hunk had left you. You opened it and began reading.

 

_(y/n), a lot of us are kind of worried about you. While we realize that you feel bad about what had happened, we understand why. You're not the only one to just leave without telling us. Both Keith and Allura did left once. But that's their own story to tell. Right now, I'm just... sad that you're being really hard on yourself? I don't know. Maybe you felt that you needed to go get Slav yourself, or that you went in alone because of a different reason. Just know that, when you're feeling up to it, we're here when you're ready. ~Hunk_

 

You sniffled, holding back tears as you put the note back in your pocket. Hunk really was just a giant teddy bear. You cleared your throat and moved closer to the back of Shiro's chair. "So where are we going anyways?"

 

"I don't remember the name of the planet, but they have a very rare part Slav needs to fuel his device." You nodded and he glanced back at you. "How're you holding up, honestly?"

 

You shrugged, watching the stars whiz by. "I've been better. I'm still... I guess I'm still ashamed for what I did," Your eyes and volume fell. "I was stupid, I understand that, and I wish I could take it all back and start over."

 

Shiro nodded. "We all have those moments," You glanced up to see a planet coming into view. "It looks like we're here." The lion landed in a wide field, a fairly decent walk away from the nearby village. You both exited and began your trek. It was silent between the two of you as you made your way down a worn path. It was beautiful out here; there was a slight breeze that made the purple grass dance.

 

You sighed, breathing in the sickly sweet aroma of the flora. "This is nice."

 

"See? Told you the fresh air would make you feel better." Shiro smiled down at you and you shook your head.

 

"You are such a child." You reached the edge of the village.

 

"And you're any better," You smiled softly and looked around. All the villagers stared as you walked past. Their looks made you slightly uncomfortable and you fidgeted some.

 

"Where do we get the part?" Shiro pointed straight ahead where, you guessed, the chief was speaking to one of the locals. You both strode closer and you cleared your throat. "E-excuse me?"

 

The man turned towards you, slightly surprised. "Yes?" He glanced at Shiro, but did a double check and smiled. "Ah! One of the Paladins of Voltron! To what do we owe the pleasure?"

 

Shiro nodded and smiled. "We found ourselves in a slight bind, sir, and was wondering if you had fuel for a transdimensional portal?" The chief nodded thoughtfully.

 

"We haven't had someone ask for that in a while," He looked around some before motioning someone over. "My daughter will lead you to what you seek. I still have matters to attend to here, but she is free at the moment."

 

"Father?" You looked over and saw a girl about the same height as you. You were struck with this feeling that froze you to your spot. You hand went directly into your pocket and pulled out the letter the shopkeeper had gave you. You held it in both hands tightly as they finished their conversation and she looked at you. "Is... is your friend all right?"

 

Shiro placed a tentative hand on your shoulder. "(y/n)?"

 

You thrust the letter out. "I believe this is yours."

 


	19. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Thank you so much, everyone, for your patience and your support. Honestly, I kinda honestly lost where the story was going and just needed a little time to get my head together. I'm sorry for taking so long and just hope you don't hate me forever. On we go!

The walk was silent save for the crunch of dirt beneath your feet. This planet, although Shiro never gave you a name, was gracefully beautiful. The light shone on the grass elegantly and the light breeze sent a sweet scent that easily relaxed every muscle in your shoulders. Your guide led you down an overgrown path.

 

"No one has been down in the mines in ages," She remarked sadly. "The walls collapsed and we lost many that day."

 

"I'm sorry," You state from the back of the line.

 

"Thank you." She lifted the letter. "This... note. It is very interesting."

 

"What does it say?" You asked. She gave you a quizzical look.

 

"You deliver a note, but don't know what it contains?" You shook your head. "The author mentions you, Shiro, and myself. They say that your compassion and bravery save us.

 

You scoff. "Me? Save us? Are you sure you didn't accidentally mix Shiro and me up?"

 

"No. Coincidentally, it says you would say that."

 

"Really? What else does it say?" Shiro asked.

 

"It just says to introduce myself and continue on our adventure. My name is Klaudina. We are here." You stopped, finally noticing a large stone entrance that descended into the darkness. "What you seek is buried deep beneath. The collapse wasn't too close to the surface, so we should find what we need rather quickly. Shall we?" You both nodded and she led the way down, finding and lighting a torch. You coughed as you breathed in, lungs now clogged with stale air and dust.

 

"Do you know what caused the cave in?" Shiro asked, stepping over rocks gently.

 

"It was... this horrible beast that breathed molten rock. He wreaked havoc on the village nearby."

 

"That's terrible." You breathed out softly. An image of your homeworld sprang to your mind, but you pushed it aside and continued walking. Klaudina stopped near a wall, handing you the torch.

 

"What you seek is very small and hidden within the walls. I will need to dig  a little before finding it." Shiro nodded and you both watched as she began to do as she said. Eventually, she pulled out a small, green crystal the glowed in the torchlight. She handed it to Shiro. "Here it is; a Pothelian Crystal. It is used in your transdimensional portal as well as other valuable modes of transportation." Klaudina took the torch from you and began the ascent out of the mines. You squinted at the bright light and rubbed your eyes. When they adjusted once more, you followed Klaudina and Shiro back to the village. She froze, stopping you and Shiro from continuing forward. Her eyes widened. "We must hide."

 

"Hide? Hide from what?" Just as the words left Shiro's mouth, the ground began to shake. A terrible rumbling noise grew louder and louder as the thing beneath the surface came closer.

 

"Quickly! Before-" A scream was ripped from her throat as whatever thing broke through the ground. It roared, the spikes protruding from just behind its skull vibrating and green eyes gleaming. Gravity pulled it back to the surface, two clawed feet slamming down and forcing you and Shiro back. Most of its body was still underground. The thing stared you two down, eyes squinting through the dust and baring very, _very_ sharp teeth. Its breath shuddered, neck shuddering as it breathed in, then out through nostrils almost as big as you. Its scarlet body gave off the heat of a million stars, the air simmering with as much intensity as its glare.

 

Shiro's was on his feet in seconds, taking on a defensive stance and arm... glowing? "(y/n)! Are you okay?" You scrambled to your feet, eyes never leaving the beast's in some terrible stare down. You saw the malice and hate, along with another undefined emotion within those eyes.

 

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." The temperature in the air began to rise, the beast moving its legs as if it was bracing itself. The area around its neck began to glow. "Shiro!" You ran and grabbed his non-glowing arm and pulling him away from a blast of what you assumed was molten lava. Your momentum caused you both to roll on the ground. The beast roared once more, finding that you were still alive. It glared at you, then began to stir. You watched in horror as it pulled itself from the ground. Scarlet scales glinted in the sun as it unfurled its long body, leaving a gaping and rather deep hole in the ground.

 

"What is that thing?" You screamed, eyes flinging to Shiro. Something stirred behind him and, when you focused, you gasped. "Klaudnia!"

 

"Alright, here's the plan," Shiro yelled. "I'll distract the monster, you get Klaudina to safety!"

 

You were about to protest when Shiro pushed you and himself on opposite sides of the next lava blast. Struggled to your feet, glancing over at the beast to see its gaze jump between you and Shiro. You raced to Klaudina, sliding on your knees once you were close enough. You jostled her slightly, barely hearing her groan over the sounds of a battle. You threw her arm over your shoulder and, struggling against her weight, forced her and you to a nearby boulder. You dropped behind it, leaning her gently across the surface. She coughed, coming around. You heard a yell and peaked over the rock in time to see Shiro fly through the air and landing rather unpleasantly on the ground.

 

As you got up, Klaudina very weakly pulled you back down. "D-don't. You will only anger him further."

 

"He is about to eat my friend." You scowled.

 

"H-he is hurt. We hurt him. Digging the mines."

 

It only took a second to register what she meant. "He caused the cave in." She nodded, tears streaking down her dirty face.

 

"He rampaged the nearest village, collapsing the mine whilst climbing to the surface. When he disappeared, we went to investigate what happened and found another, his mate, killed by our hands." Her grip on your arm tighter and brought you closer. "Please. End this." You pulled away and rushed away from cover. The once peaceful landscape was now scorching and on fire. You watched, chest heaving, as the beast took his time slithering to Shiro, who was struggling to even sit up.

 

You ran, sliding to a stop in front of your friend. You gulped as the thing stopped just an arm's length away, bowing its head and began another stare down. It huffed, neck shuddering with the breath.

 

"I understand-" You began.

 

"(y/n)-"

 

"Let me speak," You quickly glanced back at Shiro to give him an affirmative nod before turning back to the beast. He gazed at you curiously, but stood patiently, almost as if waiting for you to say for piece before devouring you whole. "I understand the pain you are suffering," You started shakily, bravely taking a step forward and gulping as the beast lowered his head to you. "You were wounded beyond any physical wound; one that kills without death. I understand. I, too, have lost the ones closest to me. I have felt the pain and the hurt and the torture that you do now." Tears began pooling in your eyes, but you did not wipe them away. "But you must move on. Violence against those who have done this to you will not end your suffering." His green eyes shimmered with sorrow as he lay his body down, shaking the ground. You placed a gentle hand on his snout as his eyes closed, a breath shuddering through his body once more.

 

There was gently hand on your shoulder. You look to see Klaudina. She smiled gratefully at you. "You saved us."


	20. The Drake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh goodness guys. You do not know how hard it was to write out a chapter after that last one! But, here it is nonetheless. I... almost forgot how much fun writing was, during that break... But I'm glad to be back and wouldn't have it any other way.

"(y/n), no." Shiro said firmly, fists on his hips.

 

"Well, why not?" You asked, mirroring his stance with a stern look of your own.

 

"Because that thing-"

 

"He," You reminded, taking a glance back at your, hopefully new, pet. He was being bombarded by the village you had originally landed in. All the little ones were curious, adults hesitant, while Klaudina told them about what happened on the journey back from the mines. He did seem a tiny bit overwhelmed by all of the attention, but was soon watching with what you assumed was amusement as the younglings measured their heights against his claws.

 

When you looked back at Shiro, he was sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. " _He_ almost ate me. There's no telling what he'll do once we bring him back."

 

"But look at him! He's harmless."

 

"Now he is!" You watched as his words registered in his own head as he pointed at you. "No, no, no, I take that back."

 

"Too late!" You sang, throwing your hands in the air. Shiro sighed again before falling silent.

 

"Fine, you can keep him. But!" He threw his hand up, stopping your celebration and giving you a smug grin. "You have to figure out a way to get him there." Your jaw dropped. "He's not going to fit in my lion and... I don't see any wings on him." Shiro patted you on the shoulder on his way back to his lion. "Good luck."

 

You sputtered, whirling around to look between Shiro and your Beast. "B-but Shiro!" He held up his hand in a wave, almost ignoring you. You groaned, hands taking fistfuls of your hair and pulling. How in the stars were you going to get that gigantic creature back to the Castleship? You grumbled, stomping your way to the village. You sighed, standing on the outskirts of the crowd, every plan you could think of had no chance in ever of working. Someone tapped on your shoulder, startling you out of your failed brainstorming.

 

"He is marvelous," Klaudina giggled as you tried to calm your heart. "When he isn't trying to eat us, anyways."

 

You scoffed. "Yeah, that's true. Klaudina?" She hummed. "What else do you know about him? His species, I mean." She raised an eyebrow at your questions. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, forming an almost pout and staring at the dirt. "I want to bring him back with me. Shiro agreed, but I have to find a way _to_ bring him back."

 

She stilled for a moment, staring thoughtfully at the creature before you all. "I don't know much of his kind, but I know they were not meant to go out amongst the stars," You both chuckled at this before falling silent again. "Back there, when he attacked..." You watched the uncertainty grow in her posture; she wrung her fingers together and shifted on her feet.

 

You placed an assuring hand on her own. "You can say it. I promise I don't offend easily."

 

"Your words... you have such a graceful way with them," Klaudina glanced at you before averting her gaze rather quickly, pushing her hands to the middle of her chest repeatedly. "I felt them resonate within my being, pulling at such grief I have not felt before. Your words pulled a ferocious monster out of its frenzy and into such a gentle state." When her eyes met yours, you were shocked by the amount of awe and fear that they held. "You have a powerful gift not many share."

 

You were stunned to silence. You had connected with a hurt being using words. How was talking a gift? Before you could ask what she meant, the ground shook. You turned to watch the beast gently rise from its relaxed position, eyes locked on you. You nodded and walked forward. The crowd had backed away in fear of getting squashed, which gave you enough room to find one of his legs.

 

You patted the rough skin and made eye contact. "Any ideas on how to bring you with us?"

 

~~

 

_Everyone paused when the ship stopped.  
_

 

_"Ecklak, what're you doing?" You watched with confused eyes as he began to unfasten himself from his seat. "We still have a ways to go."_

 

_"I know, but you guys," His eyes lit up as he looked between you and the other two crew members. "There's a graveyard right outside." When the three of you didn't react as enthusiastically as he had hoped, he just shuffled to the suits. "Just follow me."_

 

_All suited up and read, you all floarted out and gasped at the sight. Pieces of scrap metal floated aimlessly, clanking into one another every once in a while. Ships of all kinds- Altean, Ploterian, Jorthem -were all suspended in space around you four. And the stars... there were so many, it left you breathless. There was this kind of peacefulness that fell over you the longer you stared at the broken ships and random junk and stars._

 

_"This is..." You hummed, struggling to find the words you were searching for._

 

_"Devastatingly beautiful." Clordina finished, sending you a soft smile before turning to Ecklak. "What're we doing here anyways?" He shrugged._

 

_"It kind of appeared out of nowhere. i thought we could use a break. Besides," He motioned to the junk around you. "It would be pretty cool if we found something."_

 

_"By the stars," You all turned to see Randeer wiping the glass of an Altean ship that had definitely seen better days. You all swarmed around him, pushing to see what it was he saw. "Would you look at that."_

 

_"Well, we would if you weren't in the way," You giggled, pushing a rather hairy arm out of your line of sight. You gasped. "Is that a piloting bot?"_

 

~~

 

Everyone stared in shock as they walked outside. As soon as he could, Shiro called the team and told them to meet you outside. There was complete silence as the beast stared down everyone.

 

"I don't... I don't understand," Allura motioned to him. "What is it?"

 

"A dragon?" Lance asked, walking up in front of the beast. "You were looking for a crystal, and you came back with a dragon?"

 

"We-" You started.

 

"Its not a dragon, Lance," Keith cut in. "It doesn't have any wings."

 

"Meaning?" His hands were on his hips now. You rolled your eyes at the oncoming argument. You may not have been here long, but you knew the signs of an storm brewing. You made your way over to where Hunk and Pidge were standing, almost instantly being engulfed in a tight hug from Hunk.

 

"Meaning, that's a drake," Keith pointed, walking closer. "No wings, four legs. Drake."

 

"Whatever Mister Cryptographer. Just because you know about these things doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it."

 

"Cryptogra- You mean cryptozoologist?"

 

"Guys-" Shiro tried to butt in, but the boys didn't listen. Shiro sighed, shaking his head and went to try again. The beast, or drake apparently, bent his neck down to the ground and huffed harshly, sending warm air over the entire group and silencing Lance and Keith. Shiro patted his snout gently. "Thanks. Coran, what do you think? You seem to know just about everything about any creature, so what's your take?"

 

You managed to get yourself out of Hunk's hold as Coran hummed. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. It's been so long since I've ever even heard of one of these beasties, I'm not sure I remember. But that's nothing a little research can't help." He twisted the end of his mustache.

 

"Alright, in the meantime, let's get to work on that transdimensional teleporter. Where's Slav?"

 

"Inside," Pidge stated. "He said something about a whatever percent chance of you bringing this thing back, and he wasn't going to risk the something percent chance of it eating him."

 

Shiro nodded. "Alright, (y/n)," You made your way to him as he dug out the crystal. "You bring this to Slav and make a list of everything else we need. Let's get you home." You smiled, taking the crystal and walking to the Castleship.

 

"Good to have you back, (y/n)," Keith murmured as you passed him. You shot him a small smile before running inside.


	21. Small Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whaaat? Two chapters?? In a row??? Blasphemous!! Insane, am I right? Just wanted to let everyone know that I've finally gotten over my fear of writing Slav right and still feel like I've completely messed up. Oops? Anyways, have a very short chapter with very minimal angst, anger, and fluff.

"Are you... Slav?" The noodle with arms flipped around to stare you down, much like a youngling caught doing something they shouldn't be. "I'm (y/n), the one you're making the teleporter for."

 

"Yes, hello, I knew you would be here shortly." He slithered up in front of you and you couldn't help but stare. "So, was I right?"

 

You shook your head. "I-I'm sorry, what? Right about what?"

 

"About the monster," He drawled out, walking around you and stared you up and down, almost like he was sizing you up. "You are definitely not from here."

 

You whipped your head around to watch him. "I'm glad I stick out that much," You sighed, holding out your hand and revealing the crystal. "I don't know what you said about the monster, but I know you said something about this. The crystal?"

 

"Ah-ha!" The rock was out of your hand in a flash. Slav was over by a work bench and rifling through a drawer. You stood there, watching awkwardly as he found a set of pliers and made his way over to what looked like a skeleton of a machine. He began humming a random tune as he set to work. You bounced on your heels, not entirely knowing what to do next.He stopped moving suddenly and slowly, almost creepily, turned his head and squinted his eyes at you. You coughed into your fist and glanced away sheepishly. "Where are you from again?"

 

"Dem-" You cleared your throat, suddenly very aware of how dry it was. "Demmoria."

 

"I see. It did not have a very high chance of survival in any reality," Slav states bluntly, turning back to his work and his tune. You were floored.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"What I mean is that it was doomed almost immediately," He rolled his eyes before standing to his full height, crossing his many arms. "There are two realities where Demmoria was able to defend themselves. There is one other where the Demmorians were the ones to overtake the galaxy."

 

Your blood began to boil as your fists clenched at your sides. "You mean to slander a dead planet in the face of its last inhabitant?" You made your words bite, hoping they found their mark and sting.

 

"No, not at all. I mean to say there are realities where Demmoria survived." He spoke nonchalantly, as though your anger was nothing. You stood there, stunned to silence once more as he turned back to his work. "But the monster? I was right?" You went to answer, but shook your head and made your way to the door. If you didn't get out the room that instant, you might strangle him.

 

Before you could make your escape, you bumped into someone. You staggered back, not entirely expecting to stop so early. A hand shot out to help you steady yourself, when you looked up, Hunk was standing there, smiling softly. "Hey, I came to see if you or Slav needed anything."

 

"I'm good!" Slav called. He had moved from one panel to on top of the metallic skeleton altogether.

 

You huffed, crossing your arms. "I just need to get out of here before we have a dead, moldy noodle on our hands."

 

"A dead, moldy- oh." He cut himself off in realization, slowly taking his hand back from your shoulder.

 

"Yeah," You grumped, returning on your previous mission of leaving the room. You heard Hunk begin to follow you before stopping, then a few more steps before stopping again. You turned around to see him biting his lip in contemplation. You sighed and motioned for him to follow you. "I know you've been worried." You say when he finally matches your steps. You dig through your pockets and wave his note from earlier.

 

"Everyone's been worried about you. You locked yourself in your ship after you got captured," His voice was so soft, so concerned. "Keith feels... awful about yelling at you."

 

"He told you that?" You stopped and looked at him. He scratched the back of his neck.

 

"Not necessarily. It doesn't take a genius to notice he was more mopey than usual the next day. He did tell me about what you said to Red, though." You shifted, leaning all your weight on one foot and sticking the other out, crossing your arms and looking away.

 

"I, uh, I wasn't ready to face him yet, and didn't know how else to apologize for what I did," You coughed into your hand. "I know it was lazy to use the lion, but I couldn't think of anything else."

 

"Just talking to me would've been fine." You jumped and whipped your head around at the new voice. Keith stood there, smiling slightly at your reaction. "Can I have a few minutes with (y/n), Hunk?"

 

"Yeah, of course. Take all the time you need," He patted your shoulder as he strode away, leaving you alone with the red paladin.

 

You stood in silence, each of you not knowing what to say.

 

"Listen-"

 

"Keith, I'm-" You spoke in unison, each closing your mouths to let the other speak. You motioned to him. "Sorry, go ahead."

 

He sighed. "I just wanted to say that..." He trailed off, searching for words. "I wanted to say sorry for how I handled the situation the other day and-"

 

You cut him off. "No, you had every right to be upset at me. I was reckless and thought I could do it on my own. I risked everyone's lives. There is no way I could ever expect you to forgive me."

 

"Maybe I don't," His words stung, and you looked down at your feet to hide your tears. "At least not yet." Your head shot up. His arms were at his sides and he looked more open to conversation with you again. "I understand how much you want to go home. And maybe I can understand why you went on your own. But it will take a while before I fully forgive how you went about it."

 

You nodded your head, wiping away what few tears had fallen. "I wouldn't doubt that for a tick." The silence between you both was back to being comfortable and friendly.

 

"So what's with that sludge Hunk makes you almost every day? Is there something special about it?" Keith asked lightheartedly, taking a step closer.

 

You chuckle at this. "Its warm and it tastes amazing. I was thinking about asking him to make me one just now. Want to come with? I'm sure he wouldn't mind making you one too."

 

"If you wouldn't mind me tagging along," He smiles as you both began the trek to find Hunk.

 

"I wouldn't mind a bit."


	22. Nyramad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay guys!! Classes just started and I had to find the balance between those, homework, and a job. But! Its done! And who is Nyramad? A new, mysterious character? Well, let's hope this fluffy piece will introduce him better than me implementing suspense. Enjoy!!

You shook your head at the nonsense Slav was rattling off. You’ll admit you were pretty smart back on Demmoria, but you just couldn’t follow him at all.

 

“Wait, wait,” He paused patiently. “What does the blanket have to do with building a teleporter?”

 

Slav just sighed and turned back to his work. “It makes is so that in this reality, there is a point two six five higher chance that this won’t blow up when we finish it.” You just blinked at him.

 

“That doesn’t make any sense!” And it didn’t. You almost didn’t believe Shiro when he told you about saving him the first time. Almost. Now standing here while the alien that was supposed to be the smartest being of all time was telling you that folding a blanket in a specific way was going to stave off any explosions. You could believe Shiro now. “You know what? I don’t care anymore. Go ahead. Just come find me when you need something. Off planet.” You didn’t hear his response, already out the door and down the hallway.

 

Before you knew it, you found yourself outside. You just needed some time to think. Normally Plurp would be right at your heels, but Slav had insisted that if they entered the room he was working in, something insanely bad would happen. Even without an actual back to hunch, you could tell how dejected they were. It was saddening to watch them head back to your ship.

 

The ground rumbled slightly under your feet and a shot of panic ran through your body. It subsided as soon as you saw the rush of scarlet barrel towards you. You held out a hand and the drake stopped just short of running you over. A long black tongue lolled out of his mouth as he nuzzled the tip of his snout to your open palm.

 

“Hey there, tough stuff,” You coo, scratching affectionately at his scales. “How’re you doing? Are you good? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”

 

“Is that always how you talk to new pets?” Someone laughed behind you. You instantly turn to see Pidge walking towards you. Heat rushed to your face and you look away with a pout.

 

“So? I’ve heard how you talk to your technology.” You shoot back, smiling at the slight pause in her step. “Anyways, what brings you out here?”

 

“Oh, nothing really. Just thought I’d come say hello to the new member of the team.” The beast shifted his eyes to her figure as she came closer. A warm huff blew across your face when he settled down on his belly, resting his chin on the ground in front of your feet. “He really seems to like you.”

 

“We had this… I don’t know what to call it… a connection? I spoke some words to him and he relaxed,” You move to sit, folding your legs underneath you. “It was almost like he understood me.”

 

“Some creatures do have the mental capacity to do just that,” Pidge muses. “We don’t have anything like him on Earth- my planet. Actually, we had these things called dinosaurs forever ago that were kind of like him.”

 

“Forever ago?” You asked, leaning closer to the beast’s snout. “What happened to them?”

 

“They all died.” His large head shot up at the words as he made a sound resembling frightened shock. Pidge raised her arms in defense. “No, no, we didn’t kill them or anything. This huge meteor was said to have crashed down and just- boom. No more dinos.” She made an outward motion with both her hands, trying to emulate an explosion. You stared at her in shock. “What?”

 

“A _meteor_ killed an entire species?”

 

“Well, mostly,” She scratches her chin. “There are some animals that we believe are related to dinosaurs.”

 

“Huh,” You just blink, looking back up to your beast as he begins to set his head back down. “Human history is confusing.”

 

“You think that’s confusing, wait until you learn that not all humans speak the same language.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“Hey guys!” You hear Lance say before he plops himself in between you two. “What’re you three up to?”

 

“I was just telling (y/n) about dinosaurs.”

 

“Sweet. Hey, did you name the big guy yet?” You shook your head.

 

“Not yet. It seems kind of rude to keep calling him _The Beast_ , though.” He huffed in agreement. “Did you guys have any ideas?” It was silent while the two paladins hummed in thought. You were thinking of names as well, but it was harder than it looked like.

 

“What about Flamethrower?” Lance suggested, digging deep in his throat to grunt his words. You shrugged. “No? What about Firespitter? Dorbacule the Destroyer?”

 

“No, Lance, all those names are cliché. Besides, he seems a little too friendly to be titled _The Destroyer_.” Pidge rolled her eyes. “What about something like Connor or Hank?”

 

“You can’t give an awesome dragon a normal name Pidge!” Lance shot back. “It’s so boring and doesn’t emphasize what he is at all.”

 

You laughed and thought about it. “Why not something in between?” They looked to you expectantly. You even saw the piqued interest in the beast’s eyes as well. “Back on Demmoria, there is- sorry, _was_ – this god that, according to legend, was scorned by his mortal lover, her saying he didn’t love her as a person, he loved the idea of being mortal… or something like that. The point is, she felt underappreciated,” You looked to the paladins to find them completely immersed in your story, eyes wide and leaning in to catch every word your spoke. “Anyways, to show how much he truly and deeply loved her, he carved a hole into the tallest mountain. However-”

 

“Did he win her over?” Lance interrupted. “Like, at all?”

 

“Shut up Lance, she isn’t finished.”

 

You chuckled and continued. “However, he dug into the mountain a bit too deep and exposed some lava underneath. He brought his lover up top to show her how deep the chasm was and said something along the lines of ‘my body is too shallow to prove how deeply I love you, so I dug a hole in the mountain’ or something. Again, I’m not too sure.” You took a breath, straining to remember the rest of the tale. “Anyways, while they’re up there, the ground begins to shake. Before long, the entire half of the island they were on was covered in lava, killing not only the mortal lover, but also much of her people. Later, people began naming the erupting mountain after him. Nyarmad.” You nodded, signifying that you were done telling your story.

 

“Wow.” Pidge whispered.

 

“Yeah, that’s awful,” Lance spoke. “But you want to name your pet after a god who inadvertently killed half an island?”

 

You rolled your eyes. “I want to name him after a god whose name literally translates into _explosive endearment_ in Demmorian." It was silent as they took this in.

 

Soon, Lance was nodding his head. “Nyramad. I like it. Flows off the tongue.”

 

Pidge was nodding to. You smiled and turned back to the drake. “How does that sound to you? Do you like Nyramad?” In an instant, a hot wet tongue was slapped on your face and was gone. You sat there, coughing at the stench and wiping the saliva off your face.

 

“I think he does.” Pidge laughed, pointing at your hair. You looked up to see a good majority of it sticking straight up. Nyramad looked quite pleased with himself, tongue lolling out of his mouth once more.

 

“Thanks.” You mutter.


	23. The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry. Thought I'd rattle off this chapter before the end of the week and before I ran out of time this weekend. Have fun!

You sighed and glanced down at your robotic companion. “No, Plurp, Nyramad is not going to eat you.” You hopped off the ladder you were on and knelt in front of them. “He’s really nice, buddy. You can go down with me one day and meet him.” They gave you an indignant beep. “So? He’s not like that anymore. He licked me the other day.” A slight huff. “He was not trying to taste me.” You shook your head as you picked up a more proper tool for the job and climbed the ladder. “Wimp.”

 

You jumped at the sudden alarm, almost falling off. When you make it to the ground safely, you bolt out the door with Plurp hot on your heels. You shriek when an explosion shook the Castleship and sent you flying off your feet.

 

Someone helped you back up. "Are you all right?" You glanced towards the voice to find Slav, shaking in fear and yet still helping you.

 

"I'm fine. Let's get to the bridge," He managed to somehow wrap himself around you before you take off down the hallway again. "Do you have any idea what's happening?"

 

"It is very highly likely that we are under attack," You burst onto the bridge just in time to see the five lions fly off to whatever danger there was. Allura and Coran are conversing rapidly between themselves, checking every monitor and the status of the ship.

 

"We're under attack?" Your eyes widened in fear.

 

"Quite frankly, yes," Coran said frantically, eyes darting between the different screens before him. "And we're not fairing too well. Many of the systems we just repaired are falling apart!"

 

"We can worry about that later," Allura commanded. "Our first priority is defending the Castle as a whole or we'll never get off this planet!"

 

"We're working on it!" You hear Shiro shout through a video feed. Soon after you watched as all five lions fly away from the Castle to attack whoever was after you guys.

 

"Who even are these people?" Pidge yelled.

 

The Castle shook with another explosion. "Things are getting pretty dicey up here." Hunk hollered.

 

"We need Voltron if we wanna take these guys-" Lance cut himself off with a horrendous cry of pain.

 

"Lance!" Shiro roared. You looked outside to see the Blue Lion fall to the planet. Keith roars and you watch as Red full on charges the fleet. Without thinking, you unhinge Slav from your body and sprinted down the halls, your name and a rushed string of beeps echoing behind you. You find your way back to your ship and grab your helmet. You activated the comms as soon as you pulled it over your head. You rush down the hallways and find the entrance to the Castle, bursting outside and towards the fight. You coughed as the dirt and dust in the air coated the back of your throat.

 

"(y/n), what do you think you're doing?" Allura shouted over the commotion.

 

"What is she doing?" Hunk yelled back.

 

“She just ran out of the Castle!” Pidge cried.

 

“We can’t protect you down there!” Coran shouted.

 

You dodged debris as you ran, keeping an eye out for any more falling rocks or trees. You find what you're looking for and slide to your knees once you're in range. "I'm getting help!" You wiped the dust off Nyarmad's snout, effectively waking him up. "Nyarmad, we need your help."

 

His green eyes opened, and he lifted his head to peer at the carnage around you. The ground shuddered as he lifted himself from the ground. You watched his pupils shrink to slits and every muscle rippled strength behind his scales. Nyramad lowered his head, basically telling you to hop on. You climb up, gripping onto his horns as hard as you can so you don’t fall off. And suddenly, your racing through the trees around you. It would’ve been magical if you weren’t dodging debris everywhere.

 

The air around you suddenly scorched your skin and kept rising in temperature. In the sky, you spotted a cruiser gaining on Hunk. “There!” You pointed, hoping beyond all hope Nyramad was a good shot. Direct hit. The cruiser went down covered in red-hot lava.

 

“Ho-ho-holy crow! That was so cool!” Hunk cried.

 

“Well get ready; more enemies inbound!” You yelled, then turned to pat your drake on his neck. “Let me go find Lance, you keep this up.” He lowered his head and you slid off, running straight to where you thought Lance was. “Does anyone have eyes on the Blue lion?”

 

“You’re almost there (y/n),” Shiro answered, voice straining over the battle. “Just a little farther.” You nodded, even though you knew he couldn’t tell, and ramped up your speed. You had to get to Lance. You came across a clearing, dust still settling around you. You gasp at the sight; Blue was on her side, lights off and unmoving.

 

“Lance!” You scream. You struggled to get inside the lion, but once you were, you found Lance, groaning in the pilot’s seat. Relief flooded your systems. “Lance.”

 

“Is he alright?” Pidge asked.

 

“Y-yeah, he’s fine. We just have to-” You shriek when the lion is launched from the ground, flinging you into the wall. White spots filled your vision. You shot a hand up to where you hit your head to find it wet and sticky.

 

Everything sounded muted; explosions, yelling, everything. Except for your heartbeat. That pounded on inside your head. You shuffled the direction you thought Lance was and reached out, finding and gripping his shoulder. “La-Lance.” You faintly heard shouting as something else came on board. You moved to stand defensively over Lance, but your vision was fading black. You were just faintly able to make out purple armour.

 

“Don’t-” Your stomach lurched, but you pushed everything down. “Don’t come any closer.”

 

“Move it, worm,” You yelped as whoever pushed you to the ground. “The Blue paladin is here.” You shakily tried to push yourself up, but fell back to the ground, too weak. “And their new recruit, yes.” You tried once more to get up, supporting yourself on your haunches just as you lost whatever was in your stomach.

 

“I will arrive with them shortly.” You looked up just in time to watch the heel of a boot come down onto your face.


	24. Misadventures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been way too long since the last time we had Reader go through a flashback, hasn’t it? I blame me for that, but with everything going on… Oh well. Also, I accidentally wrote myself into a corner with that last chapter, and now I’m sort of trying to fix it…? I promise I did try to work with it, but I couldn’t. Maybe when I end the series, I’ll have it as, like, a deleted scene or something, make something of it. My only fear is that I’ll make it too meta. Also; Crappy ending!! I am very sorry. Anyways, onwards!!

_The restraints cut into your wrists painfully, even with your arms limp. Maybe it was because they were swollen and raw from trying to get them off. You flinched at the harsh footfalls just outside, heart racing when they paused in front of your cell. The fear and contempt weighed down in the bottom of your stomach. You knew what they were doing; they’ve done it all before. Stand right outside the door, wait until they figured you’d settled down again, the barge in with a horrendous flourish. They only ever seemed to do it to you._

_But this time was different. The door opened, as you expected, but instead of barging in, the guard stood there for a few seconds. Your eyes followed him as he fell face first onto the floor, out cold. You scurried to your feet when someone you didn’t recognize step in. He held his hands up in a reassuring manner._

_“Whoa there, it’s alright. You’re going to be fine,” His voice was hushed, eyes deepening with sorrow at your exhausted state. He pointed at your wrists. “Let’s get those off you.” He knelt down and grabbed something off the guard and slowly walked up to you. You tried to push yourself further into the wall unsure if this was just another trick the guards were trying to pull. Carefully, he brought his hands to your wrists and…_

_You were free._

_“I’m sorry kid,” The stranger regret and heavy malice was laced in his voice. “Let’s get you out of here.”_

 

~~~

 

It was cold, the kind you’ve felt before. You stepped out of the pod on wobbly legs, immediately grasping onto the wrist of whoever was helping you this time. There was a hissing sound to your right. When you looked over, you spotted Keith helping Lance out of his healing pod.

 

“Are you alright?” Shiro asked. That’s when you realized he was helping you up. You nodded, leaning away from him slightly to test your legs. “That was some risky moves you pulled out there the other day.”

 

You hummed, nodding some more. “Yeah, I know it was. But with Lance down and not talking, you guys needed help.”

 

“What were you thinking?” Allura all but shrieked as she entered the room. This caught everyone off guard and you weren’t sure if she was yelling at you for your stunt or for Keith’s.

 

“Princess, I’m not sure-”

 

She cut Shiro off. “Answer me! You are not equipped with any sort of training to handle these kinds of attacks and you just run out of the castle?” You made eye contact with Keith.

 

“She’s yelling at me.” You sighed, hanging your head before looking up at Shiro. “Will there ever be a time when I walk out of a healing pod and not be yelled at almost immediately?”

 

“This is not a joke, (y/n),” Her voice sounded stern, motherly almost, as she set a glare on you and crossed her arms. “I want an explanation. Now.”

 

“I don’t know,” You answer softly, deciding to stare over her shoulder. “The Castle was falling apart, everyone was yelling, Lance was hurt for stars’ sake!”

 

“That doesn’t mean that you can dive headfirst in those situations.”

 

“Oh, what, I’m not but Keith is?” You looked over at him. “No offense.”

 

“The point, (y/n), is that you’ve shown yourself to be heavily dependent on a team in high risk situations. There was no one out there to make sure you were going to be safe!”

 

You let go of Shiro, still wavering slightly when you shoved past Allura. “I don’t need someone to hold my hand.” You growl, practically stomping out the doorway.

 

“Great, now she’s like Keith,”

 

“Lance!”

 

You shove the smile down, wanting too much to be upset right now. Without even thinking about it, you ended up in the dining hall. There, Hunk and Pidge are munching on some food goo. They stop to stare at you before jumping to their feet and tackling you.

 

“You’re awake!” Hunk cries before letting you go. “You’re awake that’s aweso- oh no,”

 

“What’s ‘oh no’?” Pidge asks, scrutinizing every detail in your face before her own fell. “Did you get yelled at again?”

 

You roll your eyes and push away from them. “I don’t get _yelled_ at. I’m not a youngling anymore.” You crossed your arms and plant yourself heavily in a chair.

 

They gave each other a knowing look and nodded. “She got yelled at,” They say in unison. Hunk take the seat across from you while Pidge takes the one on your left.

 

“Was it about what you did the other day?” You nodded, choosing to look neither of them in the face. Hunk continues. “Listen, it wasn’t really your fault. I mean, we were getting our butts kicked out there! None of us would’ve made it in time to help Lance out.”

 

“If you weren’t there, Lance wouldn’t be here.” Pidge spoke, placing a hand on your shoulder. You looked to her for a moment. You nodded, switching your gaze onto Hunk.

 

“Who were those people?”

 

“Some mercenaries Zarkon hired to recapture you. Don’t really know what they wanted with Lance, though.”

 

“Yeah, that was weird. We can really only chalk it up to him wanting the lions.”

 

“But would he have really bothered with (y/n) then? I get knocking her out to make it easier, but Lance said they were gonna take her too.”

 

“I don’t know what that’s about either,” Pidge hummed, trapping her chin between her finger and thumb. Whatever she was thinking, she waved it away. “But that’s a mystery for another day. How did you get Nyramad to listen to you so quickly?” Her hands were clasped together under her chin and you could almost see the literal stars in her eyes.

 

You chuckled, picking at the dry skin by your nails. “I don’t know. I asked, and he just… did.”

 

Pidge pouted. “No fun.”

 

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Hunk dashed out of the room. When he came back, he was holding a steaming mug. “M’lady.”

 

Your grin split your face as you reached for it. “It’s been so long since I’ve had one!”

 

“I know! I figured since your record of being yelled at as soon as your healed, you’d find your way here.”

 

“You don’t have foresight, Hunk,” Pidge rolled her eyes. “He’s been meaning to go find you and give you a glass. Don’t let him fool you.”

 

You smiled into your drink, then sighed when the familiar warmth rushed through your chest. “Thanks Hunk. And no worries Pidge; I know what he’s capable of.” You fingered your cup. “Besides, maybe there’ll be one day where I don’t get yelled at and have to run to you guys.” You downed a huge gulp. “One day.”


	25. A Little Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry I didn't get this to you guys sooner. I've been sort of... off? I don't know how to describe it, but it got really bad and I ended up super behind in everything. This chapter did get moved to the back burner, but I was able to work on it sporadically during my... thing, whatever that was. I'm sorry for the long wait, and sorry this wasn't a bit longer. Anyways, enjoy!!

“I’m beginning to sense a pattern here.” You jump at Lance’s voice, knocking your head against the bottom of your ship. You groan, rolling out from underneath it while rubbing your forehead. He chuckles. “Oops, sorry.”

 

You wave him off. “Don’t worry about it. What pattern?” You accept the rag he holds out for you to take and wipe your hands with it.

 

“You start off here, there’s a huge fight, you get seriously hurt, then yelled at, and then you stay here until the next fight.” Lance holds up two fingers. “It’s happened twice now.”

 

You think about this for a second, then nod in agreement. “I suppose, yes. I would like to sit out of the next fight, but who else will rescue you?” You jeer, knocking your elbow into his stomach. He laughs and pushes you off. “It’s been a while since you were last down here. What brings you by?”

 

“I…” He pauses, lifts his hands to try and physically form the words, but drops them with a sigh and heaves himself up onto the bench. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, I suppose.”

 

You tilted your head to the side and squinted at him. “I don’t think that’s it.”

 

“Huh?”

 

You put the rag down, moving in front of him and crossing your arms. “There’s something else and you’re not telling me.”

 

He sighed, looking off to the side. “Maybe.” You stare at him longer before he gives in. “You just… kind of remind me of my sister sometimes.” He shrugs.

 

You uncross your arms. “Really?” Lance nods and you smile softly, going over and squeezing his shoulder. “You remind me of my brother sometimes too.”

 

He smiles too. “What was he like?” You pull back and think, scratching the back of your head.

 

“He was… childish.” You laugh when Lance pulls a face. “He liked to laugh and joke, tease.” You wipe away a forming tear. “But when it came down to it, he had a heart of gold and the potential to be something greater than he already was.”

 

Everything in the room was still, which made it extra shocking when Lance practically leapt at you. He wrapped his long arms around you. You stood, stunned, before recovering and softly moving your arms over him.

 

“You really think I’m like your brother?” He muttered, face digging into your neck.

 

You rubbed his back soothingly, knowing full well he might start crying. “Of course I do. I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.” Your eye caught something towards the doorway. Shiro was standing there, arms crossed and smiling. You smiled back and went back to comforting Lance when Shiro walked away. “You know what sounds really good right about now?”

 

Lance hummed, moving away and using the heel of his hand to wipe away some tears. “What?”

 

“A ride.” Before Lance could even ask what you were talking about, you were pulling him towards exit. You laughed at all his protests, gut hurting as Plurp dashed after you two. They whirred in excitement, even though they had no idea what you had planned either.

 

When you made it outside, you stopped dead in your tracks. Lance’s momentum sent him crashing into you, but you held steady. You brought both hands to your mouth and screamed at the top of you lungs. “Nyramad!”

 

“You’re joking.” Lance stated bluntly. You looked over your shoulder, biting your bottom lip in excitement as you shook your head. The ground began to shake underneath you. Plurp began to scream. “You’re joking!”

 

A flash of red blurred just beyond the tree line. “I’m not!” A gust of wind blew over you as Nyramad stopped just short of trampling you all. He laid his head on the ground to your right, and you walked over to give him a soft pat. You looked back to Lance and nodded your head to the drake. “What’re you waiting for? Hop on.”

 

Like a youngling in a Doragoard shop, he bounded his way over and stretched a long leg over Nyramad’s neck. “Like this?”

 

“Yup! Now move back a bit; you don’t know how to drive a drake.” You hopped on in front of him, looking down as Plurp began to chastise you. Nyramad shifted his head some and huff, blowing hot air over the small bot. They scurried away, screeching the whole way back inside.

 

You laughed, patting Nyramad a bit. “That was funny but play nice. Now let’s get going! Just a small trip, got it?” a low sound gurgled through his closed mouth as he stood to his magnificent height. “And no showing off!”

 

And with that, he shot off into the forest, you and Lance hollering and hooting the whole way.


	26. A Hiccup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay!! Another chapter!! Sorry, again, for taking so long. Life has been very distracting recently and my head is just kind of clogged. But!! Progress is being made!! Yes!! Alright, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

You were helping Slav again, much to your own disdain. You’ll admit that he was something of a handful. But you bit your tongue and tried to work around his, uh, _quirks_.

 

“No! Don’t put that down there!” You yelped, stumbling with the wrench you were just about to put down. Slav rushed over, snatching it away from you and pulling it into his chest, almost protectively. “This is not a toy!”

 

“Well, I know that!” You yell, throwing your hands up. “Who doesn’t!”

 

“You, apparently,” He snarked, seven of his eight hands resting on his hips – or body, whatever, you did’t care anymore – and he motioned with the wrench. “You almost put us in immediate danger!”

 

“I was putting a tool away!”

 

“That doesn’t sound like working. What’s going on in here?” Coran walked in with Plurp hot on his heels, eyes wide as he looked over the almost completed teleporter. You and Slav both exploded, trying to get Coran on your side, shouting over each other, motioning wildly. He took a step back in shock but cleared his throat and hep up a hand. You both fell silent.

 

“All this bickering is getting you two nowhere,” His hands went behind his back, a sly smile on his lips. “You two almost sound like Lance and Keith.”

 

You deadpanned. “Really.” Plurp bleeped in affirmation.

 

“Yes really! They’re fighting all the time, sometimes over the simplest of things. Kind of how you two are right now.” Coran held his hand out to Slav, who begrudgingly handed over the wrench. “I will solve this like Shiro would.” He cleared his throat, puffing up his chest as much as he could.

 

“There’s no reason to fight over this,” He made his voice comically deeper. You tilted your head to the side, a smile growing. “You two are a team, you need to work together to get the job done.” You felt the laughter bubble its way to your throat, but you swallowed them down the best you could. “Let’s get to work. Form Voltron!”

 

“I don’t sound like that.” That’s when you lost it. Coran looked to Shiro in embarrassment. You were having trouble breathing, stumbling over and grasping Coran’s arm. Plurp wheeled around your form, happy to see you laughing.

 

“Oh, I thought he did a bang-up job!” You screeched with laughter again, doubling over this time. Slav rolled his eyes, snatching back the wrench and placing it gently in a different spot. Allura and Keith walked in, confused.

 

“What’s going on?” She held her arms out, gesturing at your bent form. “Is (y/n) okay?” You stood up fully, huffing to catch your breath. Your face hurt with the smile that split it. You wiped away the water gathering in your eyes.

 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

 

“Coran was imitating me.” Shiro said. Any composure you gathered shattered with that one statement. You howled again.

 

Keith chuckled, going over and patting your back. “I’m sure it wasn’t that funny.”

 

“He-he did the whole – and then he – _form Voltron_!” You couldn’t even finish a thought.

 

“What?” Poor Coran. He was turning pinker with every bout of laughter from you. He adjusted his collar a bit.

 

“I may have… told them to form Voltron.” They all chuckled. You finally caught your breath again.

 

“Sorry Coran. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.” You smiled some, head light with that rush after laughing too long. “It was good to laugh though.”

 

“That’s what I’m here for.” He draped an arm over your shoulders. “Just… not so loud next time.”

 

“Deal.”

 

“It looks like you have the teleporter almost completed.” Allura mentioned, everyone’s eyes going to the machine.

 

“Almost,” Slav slithered his way over, popping up next to you once more. “There are only a few extra parts that we’re missing.”

 

“Hey, that’s good news.” Shiro said, arms dropping to his sides.

 

“It is… if we had them,” You wrung your hands together. You looked down at Plurp when you felt them nudge your leg slightly. “Some things are going to be more difficult to get, but others are going to be slightly tricky.”

 

“How tricky?” Keith stepped forward some. You and Slav spared each other a glance.

 

 “Some of the tech we need is Galra.” Slav said. The temperature in the room dropped. He looked to you, squinty eyes and all. “Because _somebody_ doesn’t know how to convert simple modules into routers.”

 

“Okay, except for the fact that I was never able to alter anything Altean.” He squinted at you again, using all his arms to point to Plurp, who whirred in shock. “Plurp doesn’t count; I moved wires and electrocuted them. Also, what makes you think I can manipulate Galra tech?”

 

“The Galra got most of their ideas from the Demmorian.” Everyone paused again. You blinked, feeling your mind buffer before it connected again.

 

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

 

“Hey, not that anyone didn’t notice I was here or anything, but if Galra tech is based on Demmorian stuff, why not just use what you have from your ship?” Everyone’s head whipped around to the door. Lance was standing there, picking at his nails.

 

Everyone was stunned to silence.

 

“Hey Lance,” You nod, brain processing what he said.

 

“Yo.”

 

“But if (y/n) uses her ship that means…” Allura trailed off.

 

“It’ll take even longer to be prepared to leave.” Coran finished. You looked at the teleporter, biting your lip as you thought about it. It was like taking one step forward and fifty steps back. Who knows how long it could take to find identical pieces? But the teleporter was almost done…

 

“(y/n), we can find another way,” Keith said. You looked back to the group. They all stared at you, waiting for your decision. You shook your head.

 

“Let’s use the ship. The only other way would be to steal from the Galra, and I don’t think they’d appreciate that much.”

 

“Are you sure?” Shiro asked. You nodded, looking down at Plurp. The bleeped softly as you rubbed their chrome head. They knew what was at stake but would have your back no matter what.

 

“Let’s do it.”

 

“Alright!” Slav slithered in front of you. “Where’s your ship? If we want to get things moving, we’ll need to start as soooon as possible.”

 

You nodded. “I’ll take you there,” You looked to the group. “Can someone get Pidge and Hunk? I think they’d help a bunch with the conversion process.”

 

Keith smiled, going to walk out the door. “I’ll go find them.” Lance rushed passed him.

 

“Not if I find them first!” He screamed as he tore down the hallway.

 

“Hey!” Keith dashed after him.

 

“We’re almost done with the Castleship,” Allura said. “Coran and I will finish the final repairs and work on finding a safe area for the teleporter."

 

As they left, Shiro turned to you. “Are you absolutely sure you want to use your ship?” You nodded.

 

“Yes. I’ve already put you guys in enough danger with the Galra once, I won’t do it again.”

 

He paused. “Only if your certain - ”

 

“Yes, dad,” You mocked, jabbing him some. “I’m not a youngling now. I know how to weigh my options.” He chuckled.

 

A comfortable silence fell over you two.

 

“Take me to your ship!”  


“Slav!”


	27. And So It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Look who finally updated again! Isn't it great? Anyways, sorry this is such a short chapter. But we're finally making progress, so let's not squander it! Enjoy!

_You were working on that wrecked Altean piloting bot Randeer found in the graveyard. The wires were kind of tricky to figure out, but at this point you were grasping straws. Or, literally, wires._

_Your attention was pulled outside your room as someone stomped down the hall, the door to Ecklak’s room slamming harshly. It was hard to make him angry, so whatever set him off was worth investigating. You put down your tools and went to the door, peaking your head out slowly. You barley caught a glimpse of Ecklak’s ratted coat snapping around the corner. He was on his way to talk to Clyzote. Now was your chance._

_You slipped through his doorway, bypassing the personal lock with ease. His room was definitely more organized than yours was. You looked around, glancing at all the notes and pictures hung up on his wall. He’d saved so many people, whenever you’d visit a refuge site someone was always eagerly waiting to see him._

_You pull your eyes from the wall and to his communications-port. You sat in the chair and typed his password in. The screen was glass, and you could see straight through to the picture you had taken in the mess hall, your arm wrapped around Ecklack’s shoulders. You smiled some but focused on what you came in here to do. You found his recent messages, tapping on the one at the very top._

_“A message regarding (y/n)’s placement,” You read softly, eyes widening as you scrolled through the message. You jumped when the door slammed open. You swung around to see Ecklak, fuming. His rage paused when he saw you, however, and he glanced between you and your door._

_“How did you-?”_

_“I’m being reassigned?” The silence hung in the air. Ecklak tried to come up with an explanation, arms gesturing wildly as he stuttered. You stood as he sighed, giving up and nodding, a hand rubbing down his face._

_“You are. You’ll still be in contact, and you’ll have a communications-port,” You looked down at your feet._

_“And if I say no?”_

_“Look, I – um – (y/n), I tried, really, I did, to get you to stay.” You rubbed furiously at your eyes. “They need you there, more than we need you here.”_

_You pushed passed him, ducking into your own room, Ecklak calling out your name. You ignored his calls and his knocking, deciding that you weren’t taking any visitors until you left._

~~~~

 

You sat in the pilot’s seat of your ship, staring out the window forlornly. Plurp hopped from their charging station and made their way towards you, beeping softly. You looked down at him sadly as you ran a hand down your face, trying to rub away your weariness.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You sigh, rubbing their metallic head. “I’ll be fine.”

 

“I’m not too sure on that.” At this point, you didn’t even jump anymore.

 

“How come people always show up out of the blue when I’m sad?”

 

Hunk chuckled, picking his way through the still messy cockpit. “I’m not too sure on that either,” He stopped at your right, staring out the window with you. “I’ve been thinking about what we could do, y’know, since you won’t have a ship anymore.”

 

“Hunk - ” You tried to interrupt him, but he seemed to excited.

 

“I was thinking we modify another shuttle, kinda like how Pidge did that one time, except with way less chance of exploding.”

 

“Hunk, I - ”

 

“We’d have to reinforce the outside, just so there’s no chance of it burning up in the wormhole. Though, I’m pretty sure it won’t anyways,” He brought a hand to his chin. “Mostly because its, uh, its an Altean shuttle. They’re all probably been through tons of wormholes. Although, it has been a couple ten thousand years - ”

 

“Hunk!” You yell. He jumps, not used to you yelling at him. You grimace. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just needed your attention.”

 

“Oh, was I rambling again?” You nodded. “Sorry.”

 

“No, don’t worry about it.” You look down at your hands. “I was thinking …  how much time has passed? Demmoria in this universe was destroyed thousands of planetary cycles ago. Mine, only twenty.”

 

“Hey,” He placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder. You looked up from your seat, face growing redder as you tried to hold back your emotion. “I know it’ll be tough, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. It’ll all turn out for the better. I promise.” You sat still for a moment. Then you shot up and wrapped your arms around his middle.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Hunk enveloped you in a brotherly hold. “Of course. Now c’mon,” He pulled away, slapping a hand on your back. “Let’s go see what parts you have that we can use.”

 

You sniffled, smiling. “Let’s get to work.” With that, you and Hunk set to dismantling your ship. Plurp pushed a box towards your feet, and you began going through your shelves (mainly the floor; you weren’t too good on housekeeping). Wrenches, screwdrivers, writing utensils, power cells, and much, much more began to pile into the box.

 

You hummed to drown out the sound of Hunk drilling into your ship’s framework, ignoring that part of your life literally being torn apart. You heard Hunk call your name, and when you went to leave, the sound of glass brought your attention to the ground. You moved your foot, finding the broken remains of your communications port. You gently picked up the pieces, placing them in a separate box.

 

“I’ll be home soon Ecklak,” You picked up the box. “Promise.”


	28. Take to the Skies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess what! This chapter is actually kind of long! Four pages in word versus the usual two. So that's something to be proud of. Woot! Now, enjoy the chapter!!

“Is everyone ready?” Shiro asked. Everyone was in the bridge, Allura on her podium and Coran at the controls in front of her. There was an excited air about as you all waited for take-off. “(y/n), how’s Nyramad doing?”

 

“Oh, a little rattled at the size difference, but he’s managing,” You smiled, reaching down and patting the top of the drake’s head, his tongue lolling out as you did. As weird as it was, you found some of Clordina’s shrinking sludge when you were cleaning out your ship. You guys used it a ton to go through the vents. Made rescuing prisoners just a tad easier. Plurp beeped, whipping around the both of you. “You’ve gotten enough head pats. Nyramad hasn’t had any. Relax.”

 

“Alright, it might be a bit bumpy at first, but that’s only because we’ve been sitting here for a while.”

 

“Let’s get this ship off the ground!” Lance called, jumping enthusiastically.

 

“Ready when you are, Princess,” Coran turned to look at her, nodding. She nodded back and began to focus. The crystal above her head began to glow, and two small columns raised to meet her hands. The whole Castle shook, but after some time it stopped. You watched through the glass as the tree line disappeared, the sky fading from blue to black shortly. The team cheered once your broke the atmosphere.

 

Coran laughed. “Boy, doesn’t it feel great to get off the ground!” He whooped. You laughed.

 

“I was starting to get a little stir-crazy there,” Lance dropped an arm around your shoulders. “So where are we headed next?”  


“To find a spot for the transdimensional teleporter,” Allura spoke, pulling up the hologram of space once more. “Coran and I were looking but couldn’t quite find a good spot.”

 

“It’s going to be challenging,” Coran nodded, bending over to look at a cluster of stars and pinching his moustache in thought.

 

“The best place for the teleporter would be at a rift,” Slav said. Everyone looked to him as he began to explain further. “Some realities are closer than others. As I was listening to (y/n) explain how she got here, I reason her reality is just one or two over.”

 

Lance just stared at him. “Yeeeaaaah, that makes literally no sense.”

 

“Yes it does, you’re just not thinking,” Keith said, crossing his arms. “We have to find a spot with the same energy as (y/n)’s dimension, put the teleporter there, and open the rift.”

 

“Precisely.” Slav nodded. Everyone looked to Keith in shock.

 

“What?”

 

“Just no one thought you were smart enough to figure it out on your own.” Lance and taken his arm from around your shoulders and gave Keith a smug look.

 

“Dude, I literally lead you all to the blue lion.”

 

“Uh, nu-uh, that was Hunk and Pidge. You just took pictures.”

 

“Okay,” Shiro interrupted the two. Again. “So how do we find this … energy from (y/n)’s dimension?”

 

“That, I’m not certain on,” Slav brought a hand to his … did he even have a chin? “But! It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. It will just take a little more time.”

 

“Good,” Allura said. “That gives us a chance to help some more planets.”

 

“Alright, some actual missions.” Lance nudged you with his elbow. “You wanna join? I promise we won’t put you in immediate danger.”

 

“As much as the help could be needed, I think its best if (y/n) stays behind,” Allura sighed.

 

“What? Why?” You question. This wasn’t about what you think it was, was it?

 

“We’ve established this before,” She avoids your eyes, searching for something in the hologram. “You are very impulsive.”

 

“And Keith isn’t?” You looked at him. “No offense again.”

 

“C’mon, Allura, there hasn’t been an incident since the mercenaries,” Hunk argued. “It should be perfectly safe for (y/n) to be out in the field with us.”

 

“Yeah, she can even partner up with one of us,” Pidge offered.

 

“I believe that depends on what kind of missions.” Coran said, sidling up on your open side. “You should take it slow out there.”

 

“Well …” Allura motioned and the hologram seemed to zoom in on something. “This planet is relatively safe, one we’ve previously liberated.”

 

Everyone watched as a planet came into focus. “The Balmera!” Hunk said excitedly. “Yes!”

 

“The Balmera?” You looked to Lance for an explanation.

 

 “This planet that’s basically alive that we take crystals, like that one -” He motioned to the crystal above Allura. “- from. Hunk has a girlfriend there.”

 

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Hunk yelled, face flushing a bit. “I just happen to like that planet a bit more than other ones.”

 

“We all have a favorite planet, Lance,” Shiro sighed, looking back to the Princess. “Is everything okay there?” She nodded.

 

“We haven’t heard from them in a while; it might be good to check in.”

 

Everyone nodded, deciding to leave the conversation there and disperse. You snuck away from the group again and trotted down a different hallway, Nyramad and Plurp hot on your heels. You brought a hand to your chin, glancing down at your companions.

 

“How come Allura doesn’t trust me on my own?” You asked them. Nyramad huffed, curls of smoke spiraling out of his nostrils. Plurp beeped at you. “I know that, but I thought we were over it.” They whirred. “Oh, maybe you’re right. But I don’t think I should apologize for saving Lance. She would’ve done the same thing.”

 

Silence, Plurp dropped the conversation. You found yourself back in the workshop. You made your way to the box on the bench. Glancing in, you found your communications port – still broken and still in need of fixing. You cleared off the bench completely, moving the box to the floor to make your life a bit easier. You gently removed every shard from the box and placing them on the bench.

 

“That’s quiet the puzzle.” Shiro said. You didn’t look up.

 

“Yeah. I stepped on it on accident. I’ll need it for when I jump dimensions.” You maneuvered a piece, finding the edges with ease.

 

“What is it?” He was at your side, moving some of the pieces as well.

 

“We call it a communications port. It helps us send important messages, coordinates, reminders, all that.”

 

He hummed. “Like a laptop.” You shrugged. Plurp bleeped inquisitively. “A piece of human technology used to keep track of somethings.”

 

You raised an eyebrow, looking to him finally. “You understood that?”

 

Shiro chuckled. “They’ve been going off nonstop since you booted them back up, I figured it might be handy to try and understand.” You smiled slightly. It was nice to know he was putting in the effort.

 

You sighed, kicking the now empty box under the bench. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to help me fix my stuff.”

 

Shiro matched your sigh. “You’re right. I came to make sure you knew Allura didn’t mean anything by what she said.”

 

You rolled your eyes. “The Princess doesn’t seem the type to speak mistakenly. Hold those two together, please.” He pinched two of the pieces together. You pulled a little handheld machine to the glass, pulling the trigger. A light blue ooze dripped out and onto the crack. “Besides, she is right. Sometimes I can be impulsive.” You paused, putting down the tool.

 

“I feel like there’s more to that than what you’re saying,” Shiro crossed his arms. “Did something happen?”

 

“Kind of.” You leaned down to scratch behind Nyramad’s horns. “It was … my fault. This whole situation.” You breathed in through your nose, letting it out slowly to try and steady your voice. “It looked like one measly little ship. I wanted to prove myself and…” 

 

_"(y/n), what are you doing! They don't see us, get back in formation!"_

 

You shook your head to get rid of the echoes. “They were going to make me leave my position,” The anger, still fresh, rose to your throat, tears welling. Shiro was silent. You puffed out your cheeks and tried to calm yourself down. You laughed without humor. “How come every time I share something about my past with you, I end up crying?”

 

He smiled some, patting you on the shoulder. “You have to let your emotions out somehow.”

 

“I know that, but does it have to be in a way that clogs my nose?” You both laughed. You sniffled, rubbing your nose with your sleeve. “Thanks, Shiro. Maybe I needed that.”

 

“I think you might need a little bit more than just a laugh.” He moved his hand from your shoulder and turned to the bench completely, picking up the ooze machine gently. “I think you need to get home.”

 

You pinched more glass together for him. “I think so too.”


	29. Soft Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry for a short chapter and for taking a while to post. But! We've got a small bonding moment! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

You were roaming the halls of the Castleship, your two mini-companions at your heels. Your arms were latched behind your back as you strode past the rooms, humming lightly. You couldn’t tell if it was day or night, but you didn’t feel tired at all. In space, you sleep when you’re exhausted.

 

A small clamor stole your attention from your thoughts and to the door you were just passing. You could hear Pidge cursing through it. You knocked, the cursing stopped.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“(y/n). Are you okay?” The door opened. You could just barely see the outline of her face through the shadows.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” She went to close the door, but you stopped her.

 

“Are you sure? That noise didn’t sound all too good.”

 

“I just … tripped. I went to grab something and fell. That satisfy you enough?” You squinted at her. Her tone was sharp, annoyed. Something told you to stand down, but you were curious; you hadn’t seen her since you left the planet.

 

“Have you gotten any sleep lately?” Your question threw her off guard. “I mean, I know you rarely do to begin with, but running on fumes can’t be good for you.”

 

She snorted disdainfully. “Now you sound like Shiro. Look – are you going to leave or what?”

 

You sighed, running a hand down your face. Plurp bleeped inquisitively, asking if you were going to push her a bit harder. “Pidge, you need sleep -”

 

“How do you know what I need?” She snapped, taking an angry step forward. You stood, unfazed, glancing over her figure. Her clothes were extremely disheveled, deep bags under her eyes. Her shin was bleeding a little. Your lips formed a small, knowing smile.

 

“Because I know you’re too busy looking for your family to think about yourself.” She didn’t respond. “Pidge, you’re not going to find them any faster if you can barely stay awake.” Nyramad pushed his head between your shins, looking up at Pidge with telling green eyes. “Even he thinks so.”

 

She was quiet for a moment, thinking. Her head turned back to look at the soft glow of her device, still on her bed. When she turned back to you, her eyes were glossed over. Gently, you put a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Let’s get that patched up,” You pointed to her shin with your other hand. “Then get you to bed.” Pidge nodded, stepping back and allowing you in. It was no wonder she hurt herself in here. But you couldn’t really comment; your room was the same way back on base. Pidge expertly picked her way through the mess and plopped onto her bed, shoving the device under her pillow.

 

“What do you think?” You laughed some, still stepping through her things.

 

“A little cluttered, but nothing I can’t handle.” You glance into a corner and laugh some more. “You kept one of your Trash-Paladins?”

 

Her head tilted some. “It was too good to leave behind.” You managed to get to the bed and sat down next to her. You motioned for her leg and she tossed it into your lap.

 

You glance to the door, motioning for Plurp. They eventually made their way to the bed. You popped open their body cavity, taking out a small box. You opened it.

 

“What’s that?” Pidge asked, leaning forward to see the inside of the box better.

 

“This,” You say, pulling out your supplies. “Is a heal-patch. It sticks to your wound and allows it to heal without it getting infected.”

 

“Oh, like a band-aid?” You paused halfway of applying the patch.

 

“A what?”

 

“A band-aid? Its essentially the same thing. Same concept and everything.” Your mouth formed an ‘o’ and you continued with your applications.

 

“How is your search going?” You glance up from your hands, catching a glimpse of her falling face. “I see.”

 

“I just don’t get it. I’ve got video of him being rescued, but I can’t place who pulled him out.” She pulled the tablet out from under her pillow and showed you. The video played and you watched carefully.

 

“Interesting,” You say, reaching forward. “May I?” Pidge nodded and handed it to you. You replayed the video. “The explosion sounds familiar. I could help if you want. I would just need to copy the video file onto my communications port.”

 

“Really?” Her eyes started shining. With excitement or tears, you couldn’t tell. You nodded.

 

“Of course. You guys are doing so much to help me, I’m totally willing to do anything to pay you all back.” She tossed her arms around you.

 

“Thank you so much!” You hugged her back.

 

“There’s no need. I’ll grab my port and help you out.” You removed yourself from her hold, ruffling her hair a bit before standing. “I’ll be right back.”

 

You found a safe path to the door and left the room.

 

Then you were thrown off your feet.


	30. Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I just wanted to thank you all so much for your patience! I've recently started two other fics to write along side this one! Sadly, neither of them are Voltron. But! If you like Undertale or The Seven Deadly Sins anime/manga, feel free to flick through "Undertake" and "Angel of Death"! It'll be fun to see what kind of uploading schedule I come up with. Anyways, enjoy some space battling!!

You pulled your face off the floor and shook your head, trying to dispel the stars you saw. The door to Pidge’s room opened and she hurried out.

 

“What was that?”

 

“I don’t -” Another shockwave went through the ship. After it passed, Pidge helped you to your feet and you rushed to bridge.

 

“What is going on?” She yelled when you burst passed the threshold. The other paladins bustled in soon after you two.

 

“Get to your lions!” Allura demanded. “It’s the Galra!” You froze, vaguely aware of the paladins rushing to their lions. The Galra? How did they find you all? Your back was tense. Every instinct in you telling you to rush in and help, but the Princess’s words stuck with you. Instead, you made your way to her podium.

 

“How can I help?” You grinded your teeth, refusing to get thrown off balance again.

 

“Whoa, guys, they’ve got some heavy fire power here!” Hunk called. You watched the lions weave in and out of Galra ships, taking anything out in their way. “I don’t think we can take any of that out from out here.”

 

“Hunk’s right.” Shiro said. There was some sort of barrier protecting their heavier weapons. There was a whooshing noise, sounding like something was powering up. You glanced around quickly, noting how the Princess and Coran were starting to panic.

 

There was a light building up around one of the Galran cannons.

 

“Focus the Particle Barrier!” You heard the Princess command. A blue shield around the castle flickered to life just moments before a beam of light shot from the cannon. You were thrown off your feet once more. You sat up, watching the particle barrier flicker some, panels going out.

 

“Are you okay guys?” Lance asked.

 

“Yes, we’re fine,” Allura grunted. You felt a glare of your own forming.

 

“We only have enough power to take one, maybe two more hits.” Coran commented.

 

“We need to take out that cannon!” Keith shouted.

 

“But how? Our weapons can’t break the barrier.” Pidge said. You thought for a second.

 

“Send me in.” Coran and Allura spun at you, shock written over their features. “You’re not getting anywhere attacking its outside. Send me in and I’ll take care of it from the inside.” A beat passed. “You don’t have much of a choice.”

 

“Alright! Go!” Allura shouted. You took off down the hall, stopping by the workroom to grab your helmet. Plurp was thrown from their charging station. Nyramad hopped to his feet. Soon, all three of you were jumping into an Altean pod and rocketing off towards the fight.

 

You punched the cloaking mechanism. Your blood felt hot as it pounded through your body. You dodged and rolled through the fleets no problem.

 

“There’s going to be a hangar door. They’ll open when they send out more fighters. That’s when you go in.” Pidge informed you. You watched just mere ticks after she stopped speaking, the hangar doors opened. You flew quickly underneath the exiting fleet, slipping in before the doors closed. You parked the shuttle and hopped out. You’re two small companions hot on your heels.

 

“Plurp, scan!” They bleeped, a purple light shooting from them. You took out the device Coran had given you earlier that day. A map of the ship blinked. You quickly found the control room and made a mad dash through the corridors. Luckily with all the excitement, the halls were empty. You slowed your pace once you reached your destination.

 

You hid behind the open frame, staring intently. There weren’t many soldiers posted – they looked more like robots, if anything. A metal clanking behind you made your swivel around in a panic. A Galran guard stood there, weapon raised. Nyramad growled, then shot a ball of lava at the guard. It melts straight through him – it. They were robots. It fell to the ground with a louder clang that you were comfortable with.

 

You peered inside the room, surprised to find that they hadn’t noticed. You gestured vaguely to Plurp and Nyramad to take the two bots at the control panels; Plurp went right and Nyramad left. You took the middle.

 

“(y/n), how’s it looking so far?” Shiro asked. You brought your hands together and clonked the Galra on the back of the head. He fell to the floor, unconscious.

 

“Lookin’ good.” You smirk. Nyramad had melted his guard. Plurp electrocuted theirs. You tossed them outside the room, closing and manually locking the door. “Let’s do some damage.” You wheeled around the room, finding the controls to the cannon easily. You were going to shut it off when you heard that familiar noise again; one of the other cannons was powering up. You watched in horror as it shot at the Castle.

 

“Allura!” Lance shouted, attacking the cannon in a fruitless attempt to destroy it. You growled, moving the cannon around and powering it up.

 

“What is the meaning of this?” A video feed of who you assumed was a Galran general.

 

You waved innocently at the feed. “Heya!”

 

“What? Who are you? What are you doing in my ship?” You shrug, watching the bar slowly go into the red zone.

 

“This!” You yell, slamming a fist on a button. The whole ship rocked as the cannon fired at one of the other ships. You whooped, watching the barrier for the other cannon falter. The paladins took their opening and attacked full force. “Who’re you, by the way?”

 

“I’m Prorok.” He growled. “The control room! There’s an intruder on board!” He yells. Some alarms go off and you feel the shock running through you.

 

“Don’t mess with my friends,” You fire back, moving the cannon around to aim at the third ship and powering it up simultaneously.

 

“(y/n), you need to get out of there!” Keith yells.

 

“Nope! I haven’t finished playing yet.” You spin at the sound of someone tearing at the metal door.

 

The bar slowly inched towards the red. “(y/n),” Shiro warned.

 

“Almost!”

 

“Open this door immediately!”

 

“C’mon…” A sweat began to form on your neck. Suddenly, the door blasted off the wall. You narrowly avoided losing your head. Plurp screamed.

 

“Get her!” Two soldiers rushed you. You dashed from their grip last second. Your eyes were wide when they tripped over each other and landed on the panel. The cannon fired, shooting the other ship and taking down the cannon’s barrier.

 

You heard the team cheer and grinned wickedly, slamming down on the shield button to bring down the barrier for this cannon. “It seems I’ve overstayed my welcome. See ya around!” You ran around the stunned soldier. You glanced over your shoulder to see Plurp shock the guy before dashing after you.

 

You made it to the shuttle in one piece. Just as you were about to hop in, you glanced over and saw a lone Galra cruiser. You glanced between the two before slamming the jet fuel icon on the Altean one. You ran to the Galra cruiser and hopped in just in time for the shuttle to rocket into the bay doors. You flipped a couple of switches and jetted out of there.

 

“They’ve got one last one.” Lance called.

 

“No, wait! Don’t, that’s me!” You shout, dodging their attack.

 

“But we just watched your shuttle leave!” Pidge said. You watched as a Galra cruiser raced passed and crushed it into nothing. “Okay, yup.”

 

“But how do we know which one’s you after all of this?” Hunk asked.

 

“I’ll be the only one standing. Let’s do some damage!” You whoop, flying into battle with the Lions.


	31. Sparring Partner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh... Wow, it seems like forever since I've actually posted a chapter. I'm so sorry for the neglect, guys!! I don't think I meant to just drop everything a disappear. Anyways, another chapter!! Finally!! At least we can start the end of the year with a good note. Hopefully, right? Oh well. Enjoy!!!

You whooped once more, zipping through the broken Galra ships. They retreated (unfortnuate) and vowed to come back (predictable). You kept riding your energy high all the way back to the Castleship. You were practically vibrating.

 

You met everyone on the bridge. Lance spun towards you and you ran top speed to him. You slapped your hand over his raised one, relishing in the sting and the nice sound.

 

"Nice!" You pounded your fist on Hunk's, laughing all the time.

 

"Great work everyone!" Allura stepped from the podeum. "Excellent team work."

 

"That was amazing, guys!" You cheered, catching Pidge in a friendly headlock and ruffling her hair. She laughed.

 

"I don't think we could've done it without (y/n)," Shiro said. You stalled slightly, face flushing when you made eye contact. "Thank you."

 

You sputtered, letting Pidge go. "Oh, no, no, that was Allura. If she hadn't let me go-"

 

"No, no," Coran wrapped an arm around your shoulder. "If you hadn't been there, we would've been itty-bitty Voltron bits floating in space."

 

You blanched at the mental image, but shook it out of your head just as quickly as it came. "I was only helping out."

 

"And we're glad you did," Coran moved out of the way for Keith, who then patted you on the shoulder, smiling. "Stop being onry and take a compliment." It took a bit to react to his words. But once everything clicked in your head, a huge smile broke out on your face.

 

You placed a hand on his and squeezed. "I guess I could, since you asked so nicely." You laughed. "Thanks." He nodded and you both let each other go.

 

"This calls for a celebration!" Hunk hollored, dashing off to the kitchen. You, Pidge, and Lance were hot on his heels. The other four followed idly behind you all. Once there, Hunk began preparing food while you all hung around the table. Jokes and teases were thrown this way and that while waiting.

 

You snorted with laughter at the terrible joke Shiro just told, holding your hurting gut. Everything seemed to slow down when you looked at everyone's smiling faces. Something in you felt warm, but cold all the same. The homely feeling you had in your chest was missing something...

 

Nyramad jumped into you lap. You scratched behind his horns a bit before reaching over and patting Plurp on their dome.

 

"Dinner is... Served!" Hunk announced, producing plates upon plates of delicious looking food. You threw your thoughts out the window and the food into your mouth. You would think on it later.

 

~~~

 

_You didn’t look up when you felt his presence, choosing to keep stowing whatever you were taking with you away in your ship. You struggled pushing Plurp’s charging port in its designated place. When he reached to help, you pushed him away, finally deciding to glare at him._

_Ecklack stepped back some, face falling. “I… I came to see if you needed any help.”_

_“I don’t need your help,” You sneer, turning back to your task._

_“(y/n),” His voice was horse, heavy with unsaid emotion._

_“You know what, no,” You ground out, completely abandoning the port all together. You jabbed a finger into his chest. “You don’t get to do that anymore.”_

_“Do what?” He questioned softly._

_“You don’t get to just waltz in here, looking like a kicked Folderon and saying my name like you care.” The air was heavy, or your lungs were having a hard time adjusting to your anger. “What’s done is done. I’m being forced to leave and your acting like your torn up about it.”_

_“That’s because I am!” His voice was sharp. “I do care!”_

_You snorted disdainfully. “Sure, because I’m leaving on a getaway and not because of a reassignment.” You let your face harden over the hurt. “Just leave.” When he didn’t move, you became furious, tears stinging your eyes. “Go! Get out of here! Leave!”_

_He didn’t say anything, reaching out. Your eyes snapped to his hand and he pulled away like your actually struck him. “I tried, (y/n).”_

_“Yeah, well, you didn’t try hard enough, did you?” You knew the words stung him; you watched as the found their mark. You turned away, swallowing the guilt. “I told you; I don’t want your help anymore.” The silence hung heavily in the air for a long stretch. You stayed still as a statue, jumping slightly when his footsteps padded away softly._

~~~

 

You stared at the charging port from your spot on the floor. Plurp was nuzzled in on your right and Nyramad curled up on your left. You had a hand on each as regret coursed through your veins. He did try. You were just… hurt.

 

“I figured I would find you here.” You didn’t look away as Keith stepped through the threshold of you broken ship. He didn’t say anything as he found a spot on the wall to lean on. It was silent as the pair of you stared into nothing and sitting in silence.

 

Finally, you sighed, shifting your numbed legs a bit to try and wake them up. “Were you looking for me?”

 

You felt his shrug, even if you didn’t have to look at him. “Just thought you’d like the company. You seemed a bit off earlier.” You let your head thunk against the wall of the ship, eyes straining to get a glance at him from your position.

 

“I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.” You feigned ignorance.

 

He rolled his eyes, sighing as he pushed off the wall. “Look, I get it if you don’t want to talk about whatever’s eating you up, but holing yourself away in here to stew over it isn’t going to make it better.” You frowned, knowing he was right but staying put. He held out a hand to you, nodding his head lightly. “C’mon.”

 

You made no move. “Where?”

 

“Just…” He sighed, shifting his feet. “You’re just as bad as Lance. I want to show you something.” You blew air out of your nose, deciding to humor him for a little. He pulled you to your feet, leading the way to… whatever he wanted to show you.

 

It was just the two of you as you padded down the corridor. You peeked into any room with an open door. “Where is everybody?”

 

“Sleeping.” Keith shrugged. You were slightly behind him, so you couldn’t really make out the expression on his face. Suddenly, he turned into a dark room. You entered slowly after him. The lights burst to life, leaving you blinded for a second. The room was wide and slightly familiar to you. You watched as Keith began shrugging off his jacket.

 

“What’re you doing?” He didn’t say anything as he gestured to meet him in the middle of the room. You shrugged off your own jacket, rolling up the sleeves of your ratty button down. When you finished, you looked to Keith, expecting some sort of explanation.

 

What you weren’t expecting was for him to come flying at you. You barely dodged his swing, swiftly being up your arm to block his next attack.

 

“Keith?” You shrieked in question. He backed off suddenly. You raised your arms in defense, waiting for the next swing.

 

“I usually come here when I can’t get my head to shut up,” He says, adjusting his gloves. “The way you were acting at the table… I figured you’d need to same thing. Though, I will say fighting someone who can breathe is better than a bunch of drones.”

 

You tilted your head to the side, confusion laced in your features. It didn’t stay there for long, face morphing to cold concentration as you dodged Keith’s attacks. Maybe a sparring match was something you needed. You knew Keith would never physically harm you, so maybe going back and forth wasn’t a bad idea.

 

You lost your mind to autopilot mode; gracefully dodging and ducking, throwing a few of your own punches into the fray. It was almost a violent dance. You knew exactly where to step, how to twist your body to avoid being hit. You went back and forth automatically, almost like you’ve done it before.

 

Keith rounded a kick towards you, and you caught his leg. A blink, and you were suddenly in the arena with Clordina, holding her leg. You blinked again and you were back with Keith. You let his leg drop from you and staggered slightly. You held your head in your hands, pain stabbing at the back of your mind.

 

“(y/n)?” The world flashed purple before going back to white. Keith was next to you in a second, hand on your shoulder to steady you. You pushed away weakly, moving a few more steps back. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” The world flashed once more and you were in a cell.

 

 _“(y/n),”_ An all too familiar voice rasped out. You glanced at the figure. They were staring forlornly at their hands. _“I’m so sorry.”_

“Ecklak?” You dropped to your knees in front of him, heart breaking at the sight of shackles on his wrists. Fury plowed through your veins the longer you stared. A hand fell onto your shoulder. When you looked to see who it was, you were back in the training room, Keith’s eyes widened with concern.

 

You pushed yourself to your feet, fury pulsing still. “I need to get home.”


	32. The Balmera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaack!! Sorry for the sudden and long Hiatus guys. Kinda got caught up with work and school and stuff. But I'm back to writing again, so maybe I can actually get back on schedule! Anyways, have a wonderful rest of your day/afternoon/night!

Your fingers twisted the edges of your sleeves as you watched the planet’s surface get closer and closer. You had finally made it to the Balmera. The ground was an interesting mix of grey and brown dirt and sparkling blue crystals. Hunk was basically vibrating with ecstatic energy and had to be calmed down multiple times; he got really loud when he was excited.

 

Keith made his way to your right, suit on and helmet propped against his hip. “It’ll be all right, you know.” His voice was low, like he was sharing a secret with you. “The Balmerans are really friendly and there aren’t really any hostile creatures. We should be fine.”

 

“ _Should be_ being the key words there.” You laughed humorlessly, but some of the tension left your shoulders anyways. “Thanks. I figure as long as I’ve got friends, I should be good.” You punched his shoulder lightly and he laughed.

 

You felt something push itself between your legs and looked down to find Nyramad. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as little puffs of wispy smoke floated into the air. Plurp nudged your left leg and beeped inquisitively.

 

You bent slightly and ran a hand over their dome. “I’m feeling better, thanks.”

 

“Are they talking about what happened when we were sparring?” Keith asked and you nodded. “What even was that?”

 

“If I’m honest, I’m not even sure.” You shrug. “It’s kind of like memory flashes, but sometimes they’re not. If that even makes sense.”

 

“Not really, no,” He shakes his head. The floor shuddered slightly underfoot, signaling that you’ve touched down.

 

“Here goes nothing.” You sigh. You turned and gestured between Plurp and Nyramad. “You two know the drill; no drake and robot shenanigans while I’m gone. Just stay here. We’ll be back soon.” Nyramad snuggled closer to Plurp, who tried pulling away from him. They gave out an affirmative beep.

 

“No worries, (y/n)!” Coran called. “I’ll be staying behind as well. Just in case.” You nodded and followed the rest of the group to the ramp.

 

The trip to the ground wasn’t as long as you hoped it would be, but nobody was there to great you when you got there.

 

“That’s strange,” Allura said. “I sent a message telling them we were on our way. Shouldn’t there be someone here to greet us?”

 

“Yeah, that is kinda weird.” Hunk murmured. “I don’t know. Should we – should we go try and find them? Maybe they’re in the mines again. What if the Galra came back while we were gone? What if they shot out the communication satellite and that’s why we haven’t heard from them? What if –”

 

You placed a gentle hand on Hunk’s arm, pulling him from his rambling. His breathing was heavy, and his eyes were wide with panic. “It’ll be okay, Hunk. I’m sure there’s a totally logical explanation for this.”

 

“You’re right.” He took a deep breath in and let a shaky one out. “Panicking won’t help them if they’re in trouble.”

 

“Alright team,” Shiro said. “Let’s head over that way and see what we can find. The lions won’t be too far away, so they’re there if we need them.” Everyone nodded in agreement. “Hunk, lead the way.”

 

It was almost like he didn’t need to be told. His happy energy from earlier turned sour, he seemed to be running every worst-case scenario. The sweetheart. With Hunk in the lead and Shiro second, the rest of you walked behind them in no specific order, just choosing to crowd behind them.

 

“So what happened before you guys liberated this planet?” You asked Keith. “I mean, I kind of understand what happened, but I’m not a hundred percent sure.”

 

“The Galra had enslaved the entire planet,” He started. “The only reason we were able to help out as soon as we did was because we needed a certain crystal to run the Castleship. The Galra had been harvesting all the crystals they needed, using the Balmerans so they wouldn’t get their own hands dirty.”

 

“That’s awful.” You scowled. Your heart felt heavy with rage, but a sad understanding calmed it down. “Reminds me of some of the planets we’ve saved in my dimension. I hate how it’s a recurring theme.”

 

“Yeah.” The rest of the walk was met with silence. Thoughts of your home swirled behind your eyelids. Your attention diverted to what you saw when you were sparring. Ecklak – strong, independent, could-never-be-captured Eclak – in shackles and rags. It burned in your chest uncomfortably.

 

“(y/n)?” Someone was shaking your shoulder. “(y/n), what’s wrong?” Lance was bent down to look you in the eye. The group was walking away steadily.

 

“N-nothing, I’m fine.” You voice was shaky.

 

“Please don’t lie to me,” His voice was soft. It only got that way when he was seriously worried about something. “Look, I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, I get it. But don’t tell me you’re okay when you’re obviously not.”

 

Your mouth opened and closed, nothing but excuses running through your head. You sighed finally. “I’ll talk to you about it later,” You cleared your throat and walked with him to the rest of the group. “Right now, we have to focus on the Balmerans.”

 

Lance nodded, squeezing your shoulder once more before dropping his hand. “Deal. I’ll find you once this is all over.” You smiled some and marched on. Like Shiro said, the Castleship wasn’t too far from the gaping chasm below.

 

You stepped to the edge, watching a bit of the dirt fall off and tumbled down. There were purple bridges crisscrossing the open space, connecting the edges.

 

“Whoa,” You whisper, as if speaking at full volume would disrupt the almost serene atmosphere. “Uh, how – how do we get down there?” Without even speaking, Allura stepped off the edge. You gasped at the sudden action but sighed in relief when her jetpack roared to life. Shiro and Pidge followed, Hunk right behind them. Keith sent you a two fingered salute before jumping off.

 

“Need a lift?” You giggled as Lance scooped you up, one arm under your knees and the other wrapped around your back. You wrapped your arms around his neck when he leapt off the edge. Wind brushed passed your face harshly, whipping your hair this way and that. Lance slowed his descent and touched down gently. You two earned a couple weird looks from the team.

 

“What?” You asked, jumping out of Lance’s arms. You gestured at your back with a thumb. “No jetpack.” A loud moan resonated throughout the caverns. You glanced around, taking note of all the pathways you could take.

 

“That didn’t sound good.” Hunk said. “And I still don’t see any Balmerans.”

 

“Should we split up to try and find them?” Pidge asked. “There are multiple tunnels; any one of them could be where they hid.”

 

“Yeah, but what are they hiding from?” You asked quietly.

 

"Or who?" Keith asked.

 

“No need to split up,” Coran spoke over the comm. “As it turns out, some of our Biothermal Life Indicators are still running.”

 

“So you have a location?” Hunk asked.

 

“I have a location.” Coran was silent for a bit. “It looks like they’re all gathered at the end of the tunnel directly behind Allura.”

 

“Thanks Coran.” Shiro motioned for the tunnel. “Let’s go. But don’t let your guard down; something about this feels off about all of this.” You all stayed quiet as you trudged into the darkness. You stuck close to Lance and Keith, choosing a good middle spot just behind them both. You flinched at all the robot parts strewn about. It was probably back from the previous battle.

 

“Man, this is way creepier now that we’re not fighting.” Lance shuddered, kicking an arm away.

 

“What is going on here?” You could hear Hunk as from the front of the group.

 

“We should be getting close to the end.” Allura spoke. The visor of her helmet reflected the light of her holoscreen. You could just barely make out the pulsing points of your group and a much larger group.

 

“Stay on guard.” Shiro called out again. A soft orange glow started to appear in the darkness. You edged closer, heart beating like crazy in anticipation. The tunnel opened suddenly, and you all gasped at the sight before you.

 

“Shay!”


	33. Escaping the Caves

“Shay!” Hunk cried, launching himself at one of (what you assumed was) the Balmerans. Something rose to your throat and you turned away, slamming a hand over your mouth.

 

“(y/n)?” Lance asked, gently gripping your shoulder. You waved him away and towards the shackled Balmerans.

 

“I’m fine. Just, uh, just gimme a tick.” You let out a shaky breath, attempting to calm your nerves. All the Balmerans were locked up, shackles linking them in a line by their ankles. Their arms were pinned above their heads, though only high enough so they could still stand. The thing that really made you sick were the muzzles latched over their mouths.

 

You breathed out once more, steeling your nerves, and turned around. Everyone was fiddling with the restraints, but it looked like none of them were having any luck. Hunk, though, somehow managed to get the muzzle off of the one he called Shay.

 

“Shay, are you alright?” She nodded, though the action looked like it exhausted her. “Was it the Galra?” Another tired nod.

 

“Explains why we’re having trouble getting these off,” Lance grunted, pulling on shackles roughly. It would have been comical if not for the serious situation.

 

“L-let me try,” You swallow thickly. “Slav said that Galra tech is based of Demmorian stuff, r-right? I might be able to help.”

 

Shiro nodded, moving to the side and motioning you forward. You wrung your hands together and stumbled to them. Your bottom lip found its way between your teeth as you reached up. You recognized the design from what your father and Ecklak taught you.

 

You fiddled around with them a bit more before they hissed open. The Balmeran sighed in relief as their arms dropped. You got to work on their ankles. As soon as they were free, they pulled you in for a rough hug.

 

“Thank you.” They whispered in your ear. You held them gently before either of you let go.

 

Suddenly, a holoscreen lit up and a Galran soldier stepped in view. He smirked knowingly, staring at you and the rest of the Voltron crew. Frantic now, you hurriedly worked on the next Balmeran.

 

“I knew you would show up eventually.” He all but growled, lifting his chin condescendingly. “We have been intercepting your messages for some time now. Do you like our little surprise?” You finished with the second Balmeran and moved on to the next. “But the surprises don’t end there.” He looked off screen and nodded.

 

Screeching metal could be heard in the corridor you all came through. You all stared in horror as the robotic parts from the hallway slowly crawled in. The Balmerans began to panic, pulling on their restraints. You tripled your efforts. Shiro’s hand began to glow.

 

“What’re we going to do?” Hunk yelled. He had his bayard out and primed. Although he sounded panicked, his stance was strong as he moved to protect you and the prisoners. “We can’t shoot at them; if we miss, we’ll hurt the planet!”

 

“Then we don’t shoot.” Keith called, whipping out his sword. You fumbled slightly moving onto the next prisoner.

 

“They’re getting closer!” Lance shouted.

 

“What do we do?” Pidge asked. “Shiro?”

 

He paused for a second, glancing around at the situation. “Alright, I have an idea. Pidge, you and I will help get the Balmerans free with (y/n). Allura, Keith, Lance, and Hunk will keep these things at bay. Once the Balmerans are free, clear a path for us. (y/n) will take point on our way out and keep anything away from us. Remember; the planet is alive, so don’t shoot unless absolutely necessary.”

 

Pidge and Shiro were on either side of you as soon as he finished barking orders. “How do we do this, (y/n)?” You gulped, fingers working feverishly.

 

“Get to someone, I’ll yell how.” They nodded and spread out. You cleared your throat to get ready to yell over the sound of crunching metal. You yelled the instructions to them, step by step, until the shackles unlatched.

 

You three worked fervently to get the Balmerans free. After you finished the last one, you whipped around. “Now!” Shiro shouted. The only affirmation you three needed was the sudden compliance. You grabbed a muzzled off the ground, giving it a few test swings. It was long enough to bat anything away from you, and heavy enough to do some damage.

 

“(y/n), go!” You bolted out as soon as you saw an opening. You smashed rogue hands and legs reaching for you, careful of your aim. You stumbled to a stop, skidding just a short of a lake of robotic parts. The screeching was unbearable and played with your anxiety. There was no way around.

 

A low groan caught your attention and the planet below you shook. The wall to your left gave away, revealing an opening into the tunnel next to you. You put your back to the robot lake and gestured to the opening.

 

“Go, go!” You stayed put, standing your ground even as hands began wrapping around your legs. “Get out of here! Keep going!”  The hands pulled back, but you resisted until the last few of the Balmerans were through the wall. Pidge followed them through.

 

Shiro held out a hand to you and you grabbed it. He tried to pull you away from the iron grip the hands had on you, but it was no use. The arms pull you and you fall, letting go of Shiro in favor of cushioning your fall. You scrap your palms in the process.

 

“Shiro, just go!” You cried, waving him to the hole in the wall frantically. “Get out of here!”

 

“No!” He shouted back, gripping both your hands painfully. He pulled again, jetpack roaring to life. You both yelled at the strain, but he managed to dislodge you. Your free from the robots’ grips. Shiro helps you to your feet just as the other four raced down the corridor.

 

“This way, come on!” Shiro shouted, leading the group to the adjacent corridor. You stumbled after, falling to your knees. Someone scooped you up and bounded away. Soon the scarping metal sound was lost to the caves as the six of you burst out.

 

There was another low groan and the cave collapsed, trapping the robots. Everyone was breathing heavily. You were exhausted but pushed out of the arms carrying you.

 

“Are you alright?” It was Keith. You nodded breathlessly. You winced when you tried to walk. Surely you gained a few bruises, and you had a feeling that they looked like hands.

 

“It was a trap.” Shiro shook his head. “It was a trap and they used an entire colony to set it.”

 

Anger bubbled in your chest, but your exhaustion cooled it down. “Despicable.”

 

“Shay, what even happened here?” Hunk asked.

 

Shay shook her head. “We do not know. It was a while after you left. They came back and invaded again. Many were lost when we revolted, but it was all for vain.” She gestured to you, smiling thankfully. “It is thanks to this one we were able to escape.”

 

Your already flushed cheeks darkened. “N-no, no, that was a team effort.”

 

“But if it wasn’t for you, we would’ve been down there longer.” Pidge pointed out. “The only other way I could think of to get the shackles off would have been to cut through them.”

 

You shook your head vehemently. “You would have caused much more damage than anything. It would have caused a chain reaction of small explosions.”

 

“How would you know that?” Lance asked.

 

“My father taught me how they were made and, uh…” You rubbed your wrists tiredly. “I have a lot of experience with them.”

 

“Is everyone alright?” Shiro asked. There was a collection of affirmative murmurs and nods and he sighed. “Good to hear. Coran.”

 

“Yessir?” Coran’s voice crackled over the comms.

 

“Start setting up a relief tent.” Shiro turned back to the injured Balmerans. “There will be food and water handed out on the surface.”

 

“But how will we get up there? The ladders are still broken from the last time.” A little Balmeran asked.

 

“We’ll use the lions.” Keith nodded to Shiro, taking over. “Each lion can take a group up to the castle.”

 

“And since I can’t pilot,” You interject. “I’ll help patch up anyone who’s hurt.” With that, the Paladins and Allura (with Lance carrying you again) jetpacked back to the surface and to the lions.

 

“(y/n) and I will stay here with Coran,” Allura comments as you get to the relief tent. The group splits up.

 

“Medical supplies?” You ask Coran. He gestures vaguely to the corner and you hobble there. You hiss as the pain in your legs becomes more prominent.

 

“Goodness, you look like you’ve been through the digestion system of a Weblum and back!” He bounds over and gently grips your upper arm, helping you situate yourself on a crate. “Alright, let me get a look at them.”

 

“Coran, I’m fine.” He gives you a stern look. “I promise, I’m fine. The Balmerans are in worse shape than I am and should be first priority.” He stares at you before nodding solemnly.

 

“I won’t argue. But I am taking a look at those legs when all the dust settles.” You smile at the fatherly concern in his voice as he grabs the medical supplies. He sets them down near you and you double check you have everything.

 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I just wanted to say thank you for reading! And, also, sorry if the character's are a bit... off. I've never written Voltron before, so let me know if they are and if you have any tips on how to fix it. I hope you enjoyed reading and stick around for more updates!


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